Inside Cheryl’s love life – from marriage to Ashley Cole to two-year relationship with Liam Payne

Cheryl has been in the headlines recently following the death of her former boyfriend, Liam Payne, who she welcomed her only child with. The former couple dated between 2016 and 2018 and since their split, Cheryl hasn’t found love again.

Before dating the late One Direction star, Cheryl had several relationships and walked down the aisle twice, once with England footballer Ashley Cole and another with French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.

Find out all you need to know about Cheryl’s love life below…

Jason Mack

Cheryl dated furniture salesman Jason Mack between 2000 and 2002 before she starred on Popstars: The Rivals although their relationship wasn’t easy as Cheryl revealed in 2012 interview.

© Bruno Vincent

The singer explained that her relationship with Jason was the basis for her song Craziest Things explaining: “We swore, we fought, we did everything it says in that song. People think it’s passionate and fun, but it’s aggressive and wrong. I was depressed and poorly. I had to end it for my health.”

Jacob Thompson

Jacob and Cheryl met after both appearing on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and started dating in the final round of auditions. Jacob explained to the Daily Mirror that after the television personality became a judge on The X Factor in 2008, she was encouraged by her PR team to get rid of the boyfriend to enhance her image.

© Fremantle Media/Shutterstock

Jacob also revealed his pride in the singer for staying true to herself, telling the publication: “Seeing someone you once loved when she was a normal, everyday girl who’s now so popular and famous is strange. The good thing is, she is still the same old Cheryl who cares about the other singers.”

Ashley Cole

Cheryl famously started dating England and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole in 2004, when they moved into the same apartment block in North London.

However, two years after they took their vows, Ashley cheated on the Geordie star with a 22-year-old hairdresser from South London. After deciding to give the marriage another go, in January 2010, it was revealed that Ashley had cheated on the Girls Aloud star once again with four more women. Following the infidelity, in February 2010, Cheryl announced their split and filed for a divorce on the grounds of Ashley’s “unreasonable behaviour”.

© Tim Whitby

The pair have, however, remained friends, with Ashely messaging the singer following the breakdown of her marriage with Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini and sending her a message of congratulations after she welcomed son Bear. Speaking on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, Cheryl shared: “There’s part of us [sic] that’ll always love him, of course. Big part of me life. And I love his family. And I love what we had.”

Derek Hough

In 2010 Cheryl dated Derek Hough, who is currently a judge on Dancing with the Stars. Derek is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer who choreographed for Cheryl, with the pair spending little time apart. Years after their relationship, Derek confirmed: “We dated for a while” before explaining that he values their friendship too much to talk about their time together.

© Yui Mok – PA Images

However, at the time of their first meeting, Derek didn’t initially know how famous Cheryl was. “I vaguely knew who Cheryl Cole was – in that I knew she was very popular in the UK but I had never met her – the best I knew of her was from Google searches,” he confessed.

Tre Holloway

The mum-of-one met dancer Tre Holloway when she was performing on The X Factor live finals and the pair became inseparable in 2012 when they started dating. However, their intense romance was short-lived as Cheryl confirmed in 2013 that the couple had ended the relationship with Tre after 14 months together.

© Copetti/Photofab/Shutterstock

Tweeting after the news was released, the American Dancer star reflected on his time with Cheryl: “Cheryl is AMAZING as you all know…sometimes against our will life gives us 2 options: losing yourself or losing someone else. Regardless of the situation, don’t lose yourself.”

Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini

Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, a French restaurateur, was Cheryl’s second husband. The pair married in 2014, having known each other for 12 weeks, meeting at the Cannes Film Festival where Cheryl was an ambassador for L’Oreal.

© Jacopo Raule

However, the former Girls Aloud star was granted a decree nisi ending her marriage in London after explaining that it was the restaurateur’s unreasonable behaviour that led to her dramatic weight loss. The District Judge Heather MacGregor who handled the divorce case explained that Cheryl could not “reasonably be expected to live with him”.

Liam Payne

In March 2017, Cheryl had her first child, Bear, with former One Direction star Liam Payne. The two stars first met in 2008, when Liam was a teenager auditioning for The X Factor. The couple were reunited in 2015 at The X Factor Final but their relationship was not confirmed until February 2016.

© Daniele Venturelli

 Unfortunately, in 2018, the couple separated after two and a half years. The pair broke the news via Twitter, with Liam stating: “Cheryl and I are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It’s been a tough decision for us to make. 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 confirmed their relationship did not end on bad terms, as she told The Sunday Times’ Style magazine that Liam was “the only man who has ever been faithful.” Speaking of their son, she added: “I’m not looking for anything any more. I’m whole. I’ve got the man of my dreams.”