Cheryl’s on the lookout for love – but she’s got a few ground rules for potential suitors
She knows what she wants this time
It’s fair to say that Cheryl doesn’t have an excellent track record when it comes to choosing men. And now the dust has settled on her split from Liam Payne, the twice-divorced star is on the lookout for a new beau – and this time she has come up with a set of rules that means she won’t get hurt again.
“Cheryl is now ready for love, but knows she needs to be a bit more sensible this time around,” an insider tells heat. “Her friends have been working hard to set her up on blind dates and try to matchmake, and they’ve got lots of nights out planned, so Cheryl can get herself out there. She’s been on a few dates already and there are definitely some interested men who are really keen to get with her, but she wants to make sure they won’t embarrass or hurt her like the guys she’s fallen for in the past.”
But her main concern is how her new man will fit in with her 19-month-old son Bear, who she wants to ensure has a stable home life. “Bear will always come first for Cheryl – he is the real love of her life and she needs to make sure she’s with a man who will accept that,” our insider explains. “She would never introduce someone to her son straight away, and would only do so when she knows they’re serious. She’d do it gradually and any man who wants to be with Cheryl will have to get Bear’s seal of approval.”
Cheryl split with Liam – father of baby Bear – in July after twoand-a-half years together and, while Liam has been linked to lots of women, Cheryl has remained single. It is the first time in a long while that she hasn’t been in a serious relationship. She hooked up with Liam soon after her split from second husband Jeanbernard Fernandez-versini, and was pregnant within months. Before JB, she had a year-long romance with
American dancer Trey Holloway and was also linked to Derek Hough, following the breakdown of her marriage to Ashley Cole in 2010. But despite Cheryl, 35, being defiant about her choices in her comeback single – singing that she can’t help being “a sucker” who “falls in love with every f**ker” – we’re told she’s had to reevaluate her attitude to love. “Cheryl knows she can’t have another high-profile failed romance, so she’s been taking a look at what went wrong with all of her exes,” our source says. “Things with Liam were over quite some time before they officially announced it, so she’s used this time on her own to think about what she really wants. She’s been very hurt in the past and fallen in love very quickly, so she’s keen to take things slowly this time. She wants to get it right and is prepared to wait until the perfect man comes along. She also knows that she’ll always have Bear, so she won’t be alone.”
Cheryl’s also getting ready for her big comeback and we’re told that, while she doesn’t want to rush things, she has told friends she would feel more comfortable if she had a new man to help her save face with Liam – especially as they’re both preparing to release songs about their break-up. “Cheryl feels she needs a new man on the scene to change the narrative and stop everything being about a battle in the charts between her and Liam,” the insider says. “She’s terrified of running into him while they’re doing promo, and feels being in a new relationship will help everyone move on. She doesn’t know exactly what Liam has committed to doing when it comes to all the TV and radio stuff, but they’re bound to cross paths sooner or later. It’s really worrying her and she thinks having a man in her life will take the pressure off.”
‘Bear comes first – he’s the real love of her life’