Cheryl Ann Cole (nee Tweedy; born 30 June 1983) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, model, and television personality. Cole was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and grew up in poverty on council estates in the inner city districts of Walker and Heaton. She is the fourth of five children of Joan Callaghan, and the elder child of Gary Tweedy. Cole has a brother, Garry (born 1987, Newcastle) and three elder maternal half-siblings Joseph, Gillian and Andrew. Cole's parents never married each other; they split up when Cole was 11.

Interested in dancing from an early age, Cole joined the Royal Ballet's summer school at the age of nine. In addition to dancing, Cole won many modelling competitions, including Boots Group's bonniest baby, Mothercare Happy Faces Portrait competition, Best Looking Girl of Newcastle, The Evening Chronicle "Little Miss and Mister", and "Most Attractive Girl" at the MetroCentre. She also appeared in two British Gas adverts, an SCS advert, and an Eldon Square Christmas advert with younger brother Garry. Cole also appeared in dance recitals on some television shows. Cole auditioned for Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, singing S Club 7's "Have You Ever". Cole joined Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh to comprise the new girl group Girls Aloud, formed through the show by a public vote on 30 November 2002.

The group's debut single "Sound of the Underground" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one. Since 2003, Girls Aloud have released twenty additional singles, with all but one charting within the top ten. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" have charted at number one. "The Promise" won Best British Single at the 2009 BRIT Awards. Their greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud and 2008's Out of Control entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold.

In 2009, it was announced that Girls Aloud would partake in a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects, but would reunite for a new studio album in 2010. On 10 June 2008, it was announced Cole would replace Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of The X Factor. Cole was given the girls category, subsequently ending up as the victorious judge when Alexandra Burke was crowned the fifth X Factor winner on 13 December 2008. Cole returned for the sixth series in 2009 and was given the boys category. Cole ended up as the victorious judge for a second consecutive year after Joe McElderry was crowned the sixth X Factor winner. Simon Cowell, the show's creator, said, "I knew she was going to be good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge." Cowell referred to Cole as "one of the best I've ever worked with." Cole was given a one-off television programme for ITV1, Cheryl Cole's Night In, which aired on 19 December 2009. Alexandra Burke, Rihanna, Will Young, Snow Patrol and will.i.am made appearances.

Cole told the press, "I couldn't be happier that ITV have asked me to round off the year with my own show, working with some of my favourite artists." The programme attracted 5 million viewers on its first airing, substantially less than the 8.1 million viewers which Strictly Come Dancing received during the same time slot. As a member of Girls Aloud, Cole has also appeared in the fly on the wall documentary Girls Aloud: Home Truths, the E4 documentary series Girls Aloud: Off the Record, an episode of Ghosthunting with..., and a one-off variety show entitled The Girls Aloud Party. On 11 January 2003, Cole was involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant, Sophie Amogbokpa, in "The Drink" nightclub in Guildford (later "Harper's" and now called "The Casino"). Cole was subsequently charged with racially aggravated assault (she had allegedly called Amogbokpa a "Caribbean jigaboo" and a "black bitch") and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

During her trial, Cole claimed she acted in self-defence (claiming she had been punched first) and denied using racially abusive language. The jury found her guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but cleared her of racially aggravated assault. The judge sentenced her to 120 hours of community service and ordered her to pay her victim 500 in compensation, as well as 3,000 prosecution costs. In a rare interview on topic of the subject Cole went on to speak about the incident as something she "regrets" however she stated that from her point of view she didn't "attack" the woman but was defending herself. In an interview with Q magazine she said: "As much as I regret that situation, I didn't attack someone. I defended myself. My brothers taught me: if someone hits you, you hit them back. That's still how I view it and that's what I'll teach my kids." At the time of the incident Cole (then Tweedy) admitted she called Amogbokpa a "fucking bitch" but denied calling her a "black fucking bitch". The police report also showed that Amogbokpa had not made claims of racism in her first statement while being treated in hospital. It was only after she had returned to the club and met the PR agent and then spoken to the Sunday Mirror later in the day that allegations of racism in the attack emerged. Cole began dating England and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole in 2004, announcing their engagement after he proposed in Dubai in June 2005. The couple were married at a ceremony at Barnet, North West London on 15 July 2006. They signed an exclusive deal with OK!, reportedly worth 1 million, regarding the rights of the photographs. In January 2008, a hairdresser named Aimee Walton alleged that she had engaged in drunken extramarital sex with Ashley Cole in a kiss-and-tell interview with The Sun. Glamour model Brooke Healy claimed that she had spent the night and had sexual relations with Ashley Cole in December 2006.

Promotion for Girls Aloud's "Can't Speak French" was put on hold, and Cole also stopped wearing her wedding ring. The couple, however, reconciled. Following tabloid reports of marital issues in November 2009, Cole posted a picture with her wedding ring in plain sight on Twitter, with the message "3 words. Diamonds Are Forever." In 2009, Cole announced her support for the Labour Party in the upcoming General Election, referring to the Tory leader David Cameron as "slippery". She went on to say, "We've always been Labour in our family, it just feels wrong not to be". In early February 2010, news broke that her husband had cheated on her with another five women.

On 23 February, Cole announced she was separating from her husband and asked the media to respect the separation. Part of the reason she asked for some privacy is that she found another man she was interested in and she didnt want to get caught in the public eye with him. She didnt want anyone to think she had cared less about the previous relationship. It was clear to those who really knew her because she would always talk about the nights they would spend together. Staying home so that one one would see them together in public they would spend days in doors and often in the bedroom. The two would spend days having food delivered to them so that they didnt have to leave. The two were hot and heavy for close to a month but things didnt last. Though she loved the time they spent together and she really enjoyed the sex. Claiming to several of her friends that he was the biggest guy to ever fuck her and one of the best she has ever been with. She went as far to say that she will probably never find another man to please her the same way he did. Not only did this man have a large cock but her really knew how to use it and had the stamina of a stallion.