Cheryl doesn’t know who she thinks she is!
POP STAR Cheryl Fernandez-Versini may have a problem when she appears on Who Do You Think You Are? – the hit BBC show that uncovers the family trees of the famous.
It seems the glamorous former Girls Aloud singer and X Factor judge is missing a vital clue in the search for her ancestors: a surname. She is described simply as ‘Cheryl’ in a BBC trailer and publicity material for her appearance on the show in December.
Her own website uses only her first name, in an apparent attempt to follow in the footsteps of superstars Madonna and Adele.
Last month, Cheryl was granted a divorce in a 14-second hearing from her husband of 18 months, French-born restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.
Previously, she was known as Cheryl Cole after her first marriage to former Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole. The couple divorced in 2010 but she held on to the surname until her second marriage. She also kept a ‘Mrs C’ tattoo on her neck, though it is not clear if it has now been removed.
At the time of her divorce from Cole, she revealed she didn’t want to return to her maiden name, Tweedy, as it brought back bad memories.
As Cheryl Tweedy she was convicted of assault and actual bodily harm in 2003 after attacking a nightclub toilet attendant.
‘Tweedy feels like the old, old me,’ she said in 2014. ‘That would be like going backwards another stage, and why would I do that?’
Sources close to the singer told The Mail on Sunday she was keeping the name Fernandez-Versini privately until a decree absolute. It is understood she may then return to being Cheryl Cole, having said she feels she can reclaim the name because ‘Cole doesn’t feel like Ashley’s name’.
Her appearance on BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are? is on December 15.