Named the United Kingdom's best-selling girl group of the 21st century in 2012, Girls Aloud amassed a string of 20 consecutive UK top ten singles (including four number ones), two UK number one albums, five consecutive platinum-selling studio albums, and five Brit Award nominations, winning Best Single for "The Promise" in 2009.

While still in Girls Aloud, Cheryl began a solo career in April 2009, and between then and 2014, she released four studio albums – 3 Words (2009), Messy Little Raindrops (2010), A Million Lights (2012) and Only Human (2014).

Cheryl next served as a judge on the television dance competition The Greatest Dancer from 2019 to 2020, and made her stage debut in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2023.

Cheryl Ann Tweedy[2] was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 30 June 1983,[3] and grew up on council estates in the suburbs of Walker[4] and Heaton.

[11] Cheryl auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, which aimed to create a boy band and a girl group to compete for the Christmas number one spot on the UK Singles Chart.

[17] Girls Aloud released their debut album Sound of the Underground in May 2003,[18] which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later the same year.

Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim,[21] due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music.

In 2008, Cheryl replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of The X Factor UK alongside creator Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.

She was given the girls category (made up of female solo contestants aged 16 to 24) and subsequently became the winning judge and mentor when Alexandra Burke was crowned the winner of series five on 13 December.

[43] The album's first single, "Promise This", is an up-tempo dance-pop song written by Wilkins, Priscilla Hamilton and Christopher Jackson,[56][57] which was released on 24 October 2010 and became her second number-one in the UK where it was certified gold.

[62][63][64] Cheryl was interviewed during an episode of the fourth series of Piers Morgan's Life Stories, in which she discussed her marriage and divorce with Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with malaria.

[74][75] In 2012, Cheryl returned to The X Factor UK as an assistant for Barlow at the judges' houses stage to help him select his contestants for the live shows of the competition.

[78] A documentary entitled Girls Aloud: Ten Years at the Top aired on ITV1 on 15 December[79] and attracted 2.3 million viewers, a 10.5% share of the audience.

[83][84] In June 2014, Cheryl debuted the first single from her fourth studio album Only Human, "Crazy Stupid Love", which features Tinie Tempah.

[86] "Crazy Stupid Love" was officially released in July and entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, selling 118,000 copies.

[88][89] Only Human was released on 10 November and became Cheryl's fourth solo album to debut within the top 10 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

[90] In 2014, the singer also returned as a judge on the UK show of The X Factor for its eleventh series to replace Sharon Osbourne, signing a £1.5 million contract.

[95] In July 2018, Cheryl stated that her fifth studio album was "pretty much finished", and revealed that she worked on the record with Naughty Boy and her former bandmate Nicola Roberts with whom she co-wrote every song.

[48][100][101] Her live performance of the song on the fifteenth series of The X Factor UK was widely criticised in the media, with viewers arguing that its "overtly [sic] sexual nature" was inappropriate for pre-watershed television.

[119][120] Through My Eyes purports to show her in the recording studio, backstage on tour, behind-the-scenes at The X Factor, at photo shoots and at award ceremonies.

[128] The book's content was about her childhood, rise to fame as a member of Girls Aloud and her relationships with Simon Cowell and her ex-husband Ashley Cole.

[132] In 2007, the group announced a joint release of Aerosmith and Run DMC's "Walk This Way" with Sugababes as the official single for the UK's other major charity telethon Comic Relief.

[135][136] Between 3 February and 23 March 2009, Cheryl, Walsh, Barlow, Moyles and Cotton also raised money for Comic Relief by providing the voice for the BT Speaking Clock.

The charity was named Cheryl's Trust, and was set up with the aim of raising £2 million to build a centre, which will support up to 4000 disadvantaged young people in her native city of Newcastle.

[142] To raise these funds, Cheryl has thus far teamed up with Prizeo in March 2015, setting up a styling session competition,[143] and also launched a limited edition Belgian Chocolate Bar with Greggs in August 2015; 5p proceeds from each sale being donated towards the trust.

"[147] In a review for her debut studio album 3 Words, Tom Ewing of The Guardian opined that "She's not as full a singer as the belters and divas she presides over each week [on The X Factor], but she's an expressive performer and a less showy backing lets that come through.

In 2010, The Guardian's Simon Hattenstone wrote about the public perception of her: "One day she might be the stoic saint coping with marital adversity or the Mother Teresa of The X Factor, smiling beatifically as her kids perform for her; the next she might be the hard-nosed bitch who lip-syncs her way through a 'live' TV performance while her X Factor wannabes have to do it for real, and who is happy to advertise L'Oréal shampoo while wearing hair extensions.

[179] Cheryl began dating England and then-Arsenal footballer Ashley Cole in September 2004, announcing their engagement after he proposed in Dubai in June 2005.

[182] On 23 February 2010, Cheryl announced she was separating from Cole,[183][184] and on 26 May, she filed for divorce at the High Court of Justice citing "unreasonable behaviour" from her estranged husband.

[197] On 11 January 2003, Cheryl was involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant, Sophie Amogbokpa, and subsequently charged with racially aggravated assault over the incident.