2002–2009: Popstars: The Rivals and Girls Aloud performing at the Capital Radio Help a London Child fundraiser, 2005 Cheryl auditioned for the reality television show
Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, which aimed to create a
boy band and a
girl group to compete for the
Christmas number one spot on the
UK Singles Chart. She sang "
Have You Ever" in her audition, and was one of twenty contestants (ten girls and ten boys) chosen as finalists by judges
Pete Waterman,
Louis Walsh and
Geri Halliwell. The finalists performed live on Saturday evenings, with one gender performing each week, and each week the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the five-piece groups emerged. Cheryl was in danger of elimination twice, surviving over
Emma Beard and Aimee Kearsley in consecutive performing weeks. On 30 November 2002, she was the first contestant to qualify for the girl group, and was joined by
Nadine Coyle,
Sarah Harding,
Nicola Roberts and
Kimberley Walsh to form
Girls Aloud, following the final public vote. The group's debut single "
Sound of the Underground" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one over boy band
One True Voice's "
Sacred Trust / After You're Gone". Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between being formed as a band and achieving a number one single. Girls Aloud released their debut album
Sound of the Underground in May 2003, which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later the same year. Their singles "
I'll Stand by You", "
Walk This Way", and "
The Promise" charted at number one. Two of their albums reached the top of the
UK Albums Chart: their
greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud and 2008's
Out of Control, both of which entered the chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold. They also achieved seven certified albums and were nominated for five
Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise". The group's musical style was pop, but throughout their career they experimented with
electropop and
dance-pop. Girls Aloud's collaborations with
Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team
Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim, due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group amassed a fortune of
£30 million by May 2010.
Guinness World Records listed them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition. They also held the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition, and were credited again for "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2011 edition. The group was also named the United Kingdom's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century, with over 4.3 million singles sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone. Girls Aloud took a
hiatus in 2009 in the pursuit of solo projects, saying they would reunite for a new studio album in 2010, but this did not materialise.
2008–2011: Television ventures, 3 Words and Messy Little Raindrops in
Hastings, August 2008 In 2008, Cheryl replaced
Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the
fifth series of
The X Factor UK alongside creator
Simon Cowell,
Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. She was given the girls category (made up of female solo contestants aged 16 to 24) and subsequently became the winning judge and mentor when
Alexandra Burke was crowned the winner of series five on 13 December. She returned for the
sixth series in 2009 and was given the boys category (made up of male solo contestants aged 16 to 24). She was the winning judge for a second consecutive year when
Joe McElderry won on 13 December. Cowell referred to her as "one of the best I've ever worked with." Cheryl returned for the
seventh series in 2010 and mentored the girls category again. This was the first series in which she was not the winning mentor, when
Rebecca Ferguson finished as runner-up to
Matt Cardle, who was mentored by Minogue. In 2011, Cheryl joined Cowell,
L.A. Reid, and
Paula Abdul on the judging panel of the
first season of
The X Factor USA. After a three-week stint she departed the series. Cowell said the reason she left was that he offered her a judging seat on the
eighth series of the UK show and he felt that she would have been more comfortable there. Cheryl did not return to the UK show, as
Tulisa had taken her place on the UK judging panel and Cheryl was unwilling to be a judge on the UK show without Cowell.
Nicole Scherzinger replaced her on the judging panel of the American version for the rest of
season one. In December 2012, Cheryl sued the American producers of
The X Factor for $2.3 million (£1.4m). She received $1.8 million (£1.1m) for the 2011 US series, and then sued for $2 million (£1.25m) for the second season, plus additional damages. In November 2013, Cheryl won for her settlement, for an undisclosed amount between her and producers Blue Orbit. Cheryl's first solo performance was on American rapper
will.i.am's "
Heartbreaker" in 2008. She was picked to appear as a dancer in the video after taking
streetdancing classes during the filming of
ITV2 series
The Passions of Girls Aloud. She was later asked by will.i.am to sing additional vocals on the track. In April 2009, she started working on solo material, and her debut album,
3 Words, was released in the UK on 26 October. The album spent two weeks at number one, and on 6 November, BPI certified the album platinum, denoting shipments of over 300,000 units; it later tripled this feat. and in 2010, it went to number one in Denmark, Norway and Hungary, and was later certified platinum in the UK. It also became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK. Cheryl's second single, "
3 Words", which features will.i.am, went to number four in the UK and seven in Ireland. In 2010, the single was released in Australia and charted at number five, and was certified platinum. The third single, "
Parachute", charted in the top five in both the UK and Ireland, and was certified gold in the UK. though in an interview on
Alan Carr: Chatty Man, she said that some of the songs submitted for the record dated back to
3 Words. The album was largely produced by Wayne Wilkins and released on 29 October 2010 under the title
Messy Little Raindrops. It features guest vocals from
August Rigo,
Dizzee Rascal,
Travie McCoy, and will.i.am, and debuted at number one in the UK, and at number two in Ireland. On 19 August 2011, the album was certified platinum by BPI, with shipments in the UK exceeding 300,000. which was released on 24 October 2010 and became her second number-one in the UK where it was certified gold. "
The Flood" was released as the album's second single and entered the charts after its official release at number 18. The programme, hosted by
Holly Willoughby, featured music and interviews with Cheryl and some of her favourite performers. Alexandra Burke,
Rihanna,
Will Young,
Snow Patrol and will.i.am made appearances. The programme attracted 5 million viewers on its first airing. From May to July 2010, Cheryl was the opening act for
the Black Eyed Peas at the British shows (as well as some European dates) of
The E.N.D. World Tour. Cheryl was interviewed during an episode of the fourth series of ''
Piers Morgan's Life Stories'', in which she discussed her marriage and divorce with
Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with
malaria. The show, which aired on 23 October 2010, drew an audience of 7.2 million, the highest figure in the chat show's history.
2012–2013: A Million Lights, Girls Aloud reunion and tours Cheryl's third studio album,
A Million Lights, was released on 18 June 2012. It debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, selling 34,934 copies in its first week on sale, and was her first not to debut at number one in the UK and her first not to sell over 100,000 copies in its first week. Her debut album
3 Words sold 125,000 copies while its follow-up
Messy Little Raindrops sold around 105,000 copies. when the winner of the
ninth series of The X Factor UK,
James Arthur, sold 490,560 copies with his cover of
Shontelle's "
Impossible". "Call My Name" sold a total of 417,000 copies in the UK. "
Under the Sun", the second single from the album, was released on 2 September 2012, and peaked at number 13, becoming her seventh consecutive solo top-twenty single. Cheryl promoted
A Million Lights by embarking on her first solo concert tour,
A Million Lights Tour. The tour ran from 3 to 17 October 2012, and comprised 11 show dates: two in Ireland, one in Scotland and eight in England. She also did a set of meet and greets at each concert. The £350 offer included an autograph, a chance to meet her and a photograph with her backstage, with proceeds going towards her charity, The Cheryl Cole Foundation. The meet and greet ticket drew negative criticism from fans, who complained about the high price. On 4 June 2012, Cheryl performed a duet with
Gary Barlow at the
Diamond Jubilee Concert, which was organised and created by Barlow as part of the
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II and watched by millions worldwide. In 2012, Cheryl returned to
The X Factor UK as an assistant for Barlow at the judges' houses stage to help him select his contestants for the live shows of the competition. In November 2012, she was handed her own documentary entitled
Cheryl: Access All Areas, which attracted 811,000 viewers on ITV2 and 177,000 on +1. In November 2012, after months of speculation, Girls Aloud reunited for the group's 10th anniversary. On 18 November, they released their comeback single, "
Something New", which was also the official charity single for
Children in Need 2012. The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. The group released their second
greatest hits compilation,
Ten, on 26 November 2012. The second single taken from
Ten, "
Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me", was released on 17 December. A documentary entitled
Girls Aloud: Ten Years at the Top aired on ITV1 on 15 December and attracted 2.3 million viewers, a 10.5% share of the audience. In 2013, the group embarked on
Ten: The Hits Tour. In March 2013, following the completion of the tour, Girls Aloud released a statement to confirm that they were splitting permanently.
2014–2017: Only Human and The X Factor return In June 2014, Cheryl debuted the first single from her fourth studio album
Only Human, "
Crazy Stupid Love", which features
Tinie Tempah. Later in the month, she performed at
Capital FM's
Summertime Ball at
Wembley Stadium. "Crazy Stupid Love" was officially released in July and entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, selling 118,000 copies. It became Cheryl's fourth number one single on the chart, making her the third British female artist to achieve four numbers ones as a solo artist, after
Geri Halliwell and
Rita Ora. The song also peaked at number one in Ireland.
Only Human was released on 10 November and became Cheryl's fourth solo album to debut within the top 10 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2014, the singer also returned as a judge on the UK show of
The X Factor for its
eleventh series to replace
Sharon Osbourne, signing a £1.5 million contract. She was joined by Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and
Mel B on the judging panel. She was again selected to mentor the girls category, with her final contestant
Lauren Platt becoming the thirteenth contestant eliminated. In 2015, Cheryl returned to
The X Factor for its
twelfth series; she was joined by Cowell and new judges Ora and
Nick Grimshaw. She was selected to mentor the groups category for the first time and her last remaining group
Reggie 'n' Bollie reached the final becoming the runner-up. Cheryl announced her departure from
The X Factor in April 2016, choosing to focus on her music career and was replaced by Osbourne. She appeared in the
fourteenth series as Cowell's adviser during the judges' houses stage.
2018–present: The Greatest Dancer, standalone singles, stage debut and second Girls Aloud reunion ,
Nadine Coyle, Cheryl and
Nicola Roberts during their
The Girls Aloud Show tour in June 2024 In July 2018, Cheryl stated that her fifth studio album was "pretty much finished", and revealed that she worked on the record with
Naughty Boy and her former bandmate Nicola Roberts with whom she co-wrote every song. Later that year, she signed with
3 Beat to release new music, and announced that she would release a series of singles before releasing a full-length album. The first single, "
Love Made Me Do It", was released in November 2018. Upon its release, Cheryl hinted in an interview with
The Guardian that if her new material were to underperform she would retire from music. Cheryl's comeback was met with intense media scrutiny, and the single failed to make an impact in the charts peaking at number 19 in the UK and number 32 in Ireland. Her live performance of the song on
the fifteenth series of
The X Factor UK was widely criticised in the media, with viewers arguing that its "overtly sexual nature" was inappropriate for
pre-watershed television. The follow-up single, "
Let You", was released in May 2019 and peaked at number 57 in the UK. When asked in 2023 about her future music plans, Cheryl replied: "The industry's completely changed and I don't know if I'd fit in." Cheryl began serving as a dance captain on the
BBC One dance competition
The Greatest Dancer, which premiered on 5 January 2019. In 2020, she returned for its second series, and later that year, BBC One said there were no plans to continue the show. She played music manager Coco Rayne in
Sky Cinema's 2020 adaptation of the novel
Four Children and It titled
Four Kids and It. In August 2021, Cheryl launched a 12-part podcast about R&B music titled
You, Me & R&B with Cheryl on
BBC Sounds, which drew criticism from some who believed that a black artist should have been given the platform to present a show about
black music. On 7 December 2022, it was announced that Cheryl would be playing Jenny in the
West End play
2:22 A Ghost Story at the
Lyric Theatre from 28 January to 23 April 2023. In 2024, she reunited with the surviving members of Girls Aloud for a UK and Ireland tour
The Girls Aloud Show to celebrate 21 years of the group and to remember their bandmate Sarah Harding who died in 2021. ==Other ventures==