Cheryl

A colourful and revealing portrait of one of the most high-profile celebrities of today

Cheryl Cole was catapulted into the media spotlight in 2002 when, as a member of girl group Girls Aloud, she won the first series of ITV 1's talent show Popstars: The Rivals. With a record-breaking 18 consecutive Top 10 singles and five platinum albums (including a number one), Cole and her band mates have gone on to become one of the most successful British pop groups of the decade. And Cole, frequently voted as one of Britain's sexiest women in FHM magazine's annual poll, has always garnered more than her share of the attention. High-profile sponsorship deals, allegations of a nightclub assault in 2003 and marriage to England footballer Ashley Cole in 2006, as well as her role as the newest judge on ITV's X Factor, have all made Cole one of the most in-demand and talked-about celebrities today.

Now, the UK's leading celebrity biographer, Sean Smith, casts his expert eye over this most remarkable star to explore the woman behind the public persona. New research follows Cole from her childhood years as a competition-winning dancer and model to that big break and the instant stardom that lay beyond. Smith assesses how an ordinary girl from Newcastle managed to cope with such a weight of media attention and in particular with the highly publicized heartbreak that surrounded allegations of her husband's infidelity. Fully illustrated, this promises to be the hottest celebrity biography of the year.