Cheryl Cole: Her Story - the Unauthorized Biography (5 page)

But then her dreams appeared to be answered. A year after Gareth Gates and Will Young had been turned into chart- topping household names on
Pop Idol
came the news that TV producers were seeking wannabes to take part in a new show called
Popstars: The Rivals.
Inspired by the chart battle between Hear’Say and Liberty X, producers decided that, instead of creating just one shiny pop band, they would form a boyband
and
a girlband, and then pitch them against each other in a race for the Christmas number one. And this time round, it would be the record-buying public who would ultimately choose who made it into the band’s final line-up. Before that could happen, a set of judges would have to whittle down the thousands of hopefuls to just twenty – ten boys and ten girls. And producers had lined up some of the top names in the industry to choose who made it through.

One of the illustrious judges was the legendary pop producer Pete Waterman, who, with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, had hijacked the charts in the late eighties with hundreds of Hi-NRG pop gems such as ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ and ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’. Waterman’s star waned somewhat in the nineties, so when Simon Cowell asked him to join the judging panel of TV talent show
Pop Idol
in 2001 it gave him a fresh focus for his career. It was thanks to his success on that show that the
Popstars: The Rivals
judging role followed.

The second judge was Geri Halliwell, one-fifth of the mighty girl group the Spice Girls. Although some commentators suggested she might not have had the best of voices, she was considered the driving force behind the colourful girl quintet that became not just a chart-topping global sensation but a money-making brand. Geri’s role as a judge was inspiring to Cheryl. Like the Geordie wannabe, Geri had been determined from an early age to become a star and spent years auditioning for all sorts of media work. She tried out as a TV presenter on
The Big Breakfast
; she auditioned for films such as
Tank Girl
; posed topless; and had even flown out to Turkey to appear as a hostess on game show
Let’s Make a Deal.
But it was when she answered an audition in
The Stage
seeking girls to join a band that her life was totally transformed, and the Spice Girls legend ‘Ginger Spice’ was born.

Band manager Louis Walsh completed the line-up of judges. Although he was relatively unknown in the UK at this point, he was the man behind such massive chart stars as Boyzone, Ronan Keating, Samantha Mumba and Westlife. He’d also previously appeared as a judge on the Irish version of
Popstars
in which he
formed a boy-girl combo called Six. It was also on this series of
Popstars
that Louis Walsh first stumbled across a young Nadine Coyle, who would later become one of Girls Aloud. With her stunning looks and powerful vocals, she had actually made the final line-up of the band. However, when it was uncovered that she was actually sixteen years old and not the required eighteen, she was swiftly replaced by Sarah Keating.

So the new series of
Popstars: The Rivals
promised plenty. Well-known judges, star talent and a public vote. Cheryl knew that this was what she had been waiting for. And she was delighted when her application for the show was accepted and she was asked to attend a callback in Glasgow. For the first time in a while, Cheryl felt that her dreams might just come true after all.

Cheryl Tweedy was nervous, more nervous than she had been for a long time. As she waited to meet the judges, dressed in a floral top and jeans, she quaked in anticipation. This is what she’d been dreaming about all these years and now for the first time pop stardom was almost in her grasp. Only three people stood in her way – Pete, Louis and Geri.

Cheryl’s fear of rejection was overwhelming. At times, she felt that she might be physically sick from nerves, while at other times, she simply felt like turning on her heel and heading back home where she wouldn’t be crushed by bad news. But she knew that if she did that, she’d be turning her back on her destiny and everything she had worked so hard for. Pulling herself together, Cheryl knew that she had nothing to lose by staying. However, doubt gripped her once again when she was finally seated outside the audition room, with just a door separating her from the very people who would determine whether or not she would become a star.

Eventually her name was called and Cheryl stepped into the room with her heart thumping loudly in her chest. As she descended the stairs, she drew breath when she saw Louis, Pete and Geri looking back at her with big smiles on their faces. Even though she wasn’t really the kind of girl to be star struck, she couldn’t help but feel a little giddy that she was actually sharing oxygen with a world-famous Spice Girl, a legendary pop producer and the man responsible for Westlife.

When she took her spot before them and introduced herself, the old feisty Cheryl returned and she sounded confident as she announced that she was planning to sing S Club 7’s classic chart-topper ‘Have You Ever?’ She began to sing and the nerves she had experienced earlier faded away as she lost herself in the gorgeous melody of the Cathy Dennis- penned hit. When she’d reached the end of the first chorus, the judges stopped her, their faces full of delight. She immediately knew that she had impressed them, but she hoped that it was enough to put her through to the next round.

Louis was first to speak and it was clear by his enthusiasm that he was particularly taken with her performance, especially when he declared that he wanted her in his band straight away. However, he didn’t make it easy for Cheryl, grilling her on just how much she wanted the job. ‘Do you really want to be a pop singer?’ he asked. ‘You do know it’s a tough life – it’s early mornings, late nights and lots of bull****.’

Cheryl hastily assured him that being a popstar was all she’d ever wanted and that she was prepared for anything that came her way if it meant that she would be successful. Meanwhile, Pete Waterman had sensed that Cheryl had been a little awkward during the audition and told her that she couldn’t
be nervous if she wanted to succeed. However, he admitted afterwards that he had been mesmerized by what he described as ‘the most beautiful eyes and skin’ he’d ever seen in his life and commented, ‘You’d have to be dead if you didn’t think she was stunning.’ Geri, who had said little during Cheryl’s audition, said she was gobsmacked by how ‘stunning’ and ‘gorgeous’ the Geordie was.

When Pete told Cheryl that she was going through to the next round of auditions in London, her heart exploded in her chest. She had done it. She had got past the first stage and was on her way to becoming a popstar! But even though she was delighted with the news, when she stepped back into the corridor to be greeted by
Popstars
presenter Davina McCall, she did so calmly, still unable to take in the news that life could soon be very different for her. Also at the Glasgow auditions was one Nadine Coyle, the gorgeous pop wannabe who had been unceremoniously kicked out of Irish
Popstars
band Six, when it was discovered she was too young. Now she was back – and seventeen – which meant she was old enough for
Popstars: The Rivals.
She impressed the judges with a rendition of Sting’s ‘Fields Of Gold’, after which a grinning Louis boasted: ‘This is my girl. I won’t let her escape. She’s a star!’

Meanwhile, at the Manchester auditions, Sarah Harding impressed the judges with Steps’ ‘Last Thing On My Mind’; Kimberley Walsh gave it all she had as she sang ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go?’; while Nicola Roberts received mixed reactions from the judging panel when she sang Shakira’s hit ‘Underneath Your Clothes’. Louis said she was ‘nice but not brilliant’ but Geri pushed for her to go through to the next stage in London.

Cheryl, excited and buzzing with confidence, moved down south once again, this time to join the hundred-plus lucky hopefuls who would be put through their paces during the workshop part of the show. Here, she knew the hard work was about to begin. It was here that the judges would be able to test the wannabes’ vocal skills and dance ability in controlled conditions. So far the gaggle of eager auditionees had proved that they could carry a tune without accompaniment. But could they sing just as well with a pianist? And, more importantly for any all-singing, all-dancing boy- and girlband, did they have rhythm and could they remember dance steps?

It was around this time that Cheryl decided to call time on her relationship with Richard Sweeney. She knew that these auditions were a once-in-a-lifetime experience and if she were to give this opportunity her all she had to focus on it one hundred per cent. And she knew balancing a singing career with a long-distance romance would prove to be difficult. So, Cheryl decided it was best that they split. According to a friend of Richard’s, her shock decision devastated him, as he’d hoped one day to marry her.

‘When Cheryl auditioned for
Popstars
and finally knew her big break was about to happen, she broke it off with him,’ the same friend told the
Mirror
years later, on the eve of Cheryl’s marriage to Ashley Cole. ‘He was heartbroken but there was nothing he could do. That was nearly four years ago but he still carries a torch for her and won’t hear a bad word said against her. She hurt him very badly but he doesn’t blame her. He would have loved her to become Mrs Sweeney instead of Mrs Cole.’

Richard himself has admirably kept his feelings about the split to himself all these years and gallantly turned down many
big offers to do a kiss-and-tell. He broke his silence only once, to shower Cheryl with praise.

‘Cheryl is a lovely girl,’ he told the
Daily Mirror.
‘She has always wanted to be where she is now. She has been through some rough times and now she is living her dream. I wish her all the best.’

Back on the show, on the first day of workshops, the judges refreshed their memories by getting the auditionees to sing
a cappella
once again. Some shone just as brightly as they had before, while others failed to repeat their earlier performances. When all hundred or so youngsters had been seen, the judges called the anxious hopefuls to the stage again, girls on one side, boys on the other. A glum-looking Pete Waterman wasn’t happy.

‘We are disappointed in the auditions we’ve seen today,’ he said gravely, causing Cheryl and the others some anxiety. ‘Certainly those who stay past tonight need to up their game five hundred per cent.’

The judges then began to read out the names and numbers of contestants they wanted to form a third group at the centre of the stage. As the thirty or so names were called, the wannabes looked at each other as they wondered what the roll call of names could mean. Cheryl grew anxious. Her name hadn’t been called and this new group comprised of boys and girls she remembered having performed well during the auditions. Was her dream about to end?

When the judges finished calling out names, Cheryl’s heart sank. She knew it: she hadn’t been called and it was time for her to go home. What had she done so wrong? She thought she’d delivered a great performance. However, she couldn’t mope for
long, because Pete suddenly announced that the new group that had been formed were actually the ones who would
not
be returning tomorrow. Cheryl sprang triumphantly into the air. She’d done it, she’d passed the first hurdle; but she knew that she couldn’t relax. As Pete had warned, the remainder of the wannabes had to pull out all the stops if they were to make it through to the final thirty.

The next day, the remaining hopefuls were put through their paces in the dance studio. Under the watchful gaze of the choreographer, the boys and girls were tested on how good and fluid they were on the dancefloor. At the end of that, a second handful of unfortunates was culled.

Thankfully, Cheryl, with her years of dance expertise, sailed through easily. However, over the next day, her confidence was given a knock when Geri decided that she and fellow hopeful Emma Beard were too similar-looking to be in the same band. The girls were asked to show off their dance skills to see which one could bring more to the future band. Emma commented afterwards that she thought she stood no chance against Cheryl, who she knew had been taught dance from an early age. Both performed so strongly, however, that for the time being the pair were both allowed to carry on through the competition.

For the next two days, the competitors underwent further intense vocal and dance training, then eventually Pete, Louis and Geri sat down and decided which of the lucky few would make the all-important final thirty. The week had proven to be a tough one for Cheryl, emotionally and physically. Even though she had excelled at dance and shown herself to be a capable singer, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps the
judges would see something else, something more in one of the other contenders.

The nervous fifty were called in to see the judges one at a time. Each had to enter one of two rooms, where either Pete Waterman or Louis Walsh would be waiting for them, and make an agonizingly long walk to take a seat in front of a judge, in what was referred to as the ‘green mile’. Then Pete or Louis would pass judgement, either crushing or giving life to the dreams of the eager youngsters.

When Cheryl strode across the room, tears were already streaming across her face. ‘It’s been so emotional,’ she explained to Louis as she sat down in front of him. After a little beating about the bush, Louis broke the news she’d been dying to hear – she was through to the final fifteen girls. Cheryl was ecstatic and no longer cared that tears were rolling down her cheeks, because now they were tears of joy. But still she didn’t let herself lose grip of reality. She knew the journey wasn’t quite over yet: the fifteen girls had to be further whittled down to ten, a decision that the judges would make between themselves, based on the auditions so far.

With the week of workshop auditions finally over, it was time for everyone to say their goodbyes to each other, not yet knowing which goodbyes were for good. And what better way to do so than by throwing an end-of-week party. Of course, this wasn’t their first night of partying. All through the week, a handful of hardcore contestants had taken to commandeering someone’s room at the Thistle Hotel near Hyde Park in London and cracking open a few beers.