Girls Aloud may be one of the biggest success stories in pop, but some of their love lives have been anything but successful.
From a cheating husband to being stalked by ex, here’s an inside look at the cursed love lives of Girls Aloud.
Girls Aloud’s love lives: Cheryl Tweedy
Cheryl, 41, has seen a number of high-profile romances go south.
The most notorious being, of course, her marriage to former Chelsea and Arsenal player Ashley Cole.
Ashley and Cheryl tied the knot in 2006. However, four years later, their marriage was over following cheating allegations levelled at Ashley.
The now 43-year-old was accused of cheating on Cheryl with a hairdresser. Despite attempting to make it work, they eventually split in 2010 after it was alleged that Ashley had cheated on Cheryl with a further four women.
“We had a great marriage, the most fantastic wedding, but I just don’t know where it went wrong. To this very day, I still question this,” Cheryl said on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.
In her memoir, Cheryl confessed that she “threw up” after learning of Ashley’s infidelities. She also took an STI test.
“I had to face the fact that Ashley’s infidelity had been putting me at risk for a long time, and I had to put my mind at rest,” she wrote in the book.
Short-lived marriage and relationship split
In 2014, following a three-month whirlwind romance, French restauranteur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini and Cheryl tied the knot in the Caribbean.
However, they split a year later, divorcing in 2016. Jean-Bernard’s “unreasonable behaviour” was cited as being the reason behind the split, according to Cheryl’s divorce papers.
Not long after her marriage split, Cheryl began dating One Direction star Liam Payne. They had a son, Bear, together.
However, they split in 2018. “We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together,” Cheryl said at the time.
Nadine Coyle: Cheating allegations and naked tattoo
Cheryl’s bandmate, Nadine, 39, has also had something of a torrid time on the romance front.
In 2007, Nadine was in a relationship with Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe.
There were rumours Jesse would be popping the question, however, it didn’t happen. Things soon started going wrong too.
Jesse spent some time in rehab and there were even cheating allegations levelled at him. Eventually, Nadine decided to call time on their romance.
Nadine later confessed she’d dealt with the situation in a bad way. Speaking to Observor Music, she said: “I was only 21 – [I] didn’t have any experience, didn’t know how to be there and support someone through an addiction on the other side of the world.
“We were just about to go on tour. I was selfish, I have to say. I really hurt Jesse over that whole situation. And I’ve regretted it ever since.”
Meanwhile, Jesse got a tattoo of Nadine’s naked body done on his arm. “It was a immature and I’d get it removed if I could. But it’s also my favourite tattoo,” he said.
Engagement split and reunion
A year after her split from Jesse, Nadine met Jason Bell, an American Football player.
However, despite getting engaged in 2010, they split in 2011. Nadine explained that they realised they were better as friends.
But, in 2013, Nadine fell pregnant and revealed that she had reunited with Jason, who was the father of her unborn child.
Their daughter, Anaíya, was born in 2014.
In 2020, Nadine announced that she and Jason had split again, this time due to their “increasingly distanced lives”. However, Jason was reportedly living with Nadine in Northern Ireland by 2021 as they co-parented during the pandemic.
Girls Aloud love lives: Nicola Roberts
Between 2012 and 2017, Nicola was terrorised by her ex-boyfriend, Carl Davies.
Nicola and Davies had been together for 18 months during the height of her fame in Girls Aloud. However, they split in 2008 after a series of rows.
In 2012, Davies began his mission of terror on his ex, bombarding her with over 3,000 from over 35 fake Twitter accounts. In some of the messages, Davies threatened to stab and burn her.
Davies was arrested in 2017 and slapped with a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He admitted one count of stalking and another count of persistent use of public communication network to cause annoyance or inconvenience.
He was handed a lifetime restraining order and was banned from looking at Nicola’s Instagram account.
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Finding love again
Nicola then found love with businessman Charlie Fennell. They were together for six years. At the time, Nicola said: “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and completely in love.”
However, they split in 2014 after growing apart.
In recent years, Nicola has found love once more with former footballer Mitch Hahn. They were first spotted together back in 2022.
Earlier this month (August 2024), it was reported that they were now engaged after Mitch popped the question on holiday in France.
“Nicola has met her soulmate in Mitch. She couldn’t be happier,” a source told The Sun.
Kimberley Walsh: The only star to avoid romance issues
It seems as though Kimberley Walsh, 42, is the only member of the band to avoid any heartache or drama with her love life.
The star found love with Justin Scott, who was a member of boy band Triple 8. They have been together since 2003.
In 2016, they tied the knot and have had three children together.
They have largely kept their romance private.
Sarah Harding, who died in 2021, was also often in the headlines over her love life.
Read more: Cheryl ‘like a smitten schoolgirl’ with ‘new love interest’ she’s met on Girls Aloud tour
Girls Aloud at the BBC airs tonight (Saturday, August 17) at 9.10pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
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