Friends rally round to support Cheryl Cole

Feb 28 2010 by Lisa Hutchinson, Sunday Sun

And Ann Corbitt, a US local government worker, claimed last week she had sex with him in a Seattle hotel last July.

Manageress of the Fosse pub on the Fossway in Walker, where Cheryl and her family were regulars, said: “We have been talking about how Cheryl used to come here. Some of the regulars knew her.

“She is a gorgeous woman. Who knows what she saw in him. She should move on because she can do better.”

Her former dance, singing and drama teachers at the Newcastle Dance Centre in Newcastle are all supporting Cheryl.

She was taught by husband-and-wife team Michael Conway and Mavis Whiteside and their daughter Hayley.

Mavis, 68, of Blaydon, Gateshead, said: “Cheryl was always a strong character and was very motivated in what ever she did.

“Cheryl has to put a brave face on for the cameras but what she really needs is a big Geordie hug. When ever she wants to come back to the dance centre she will get the hug she deserves.”

Michael Conway, 69, said: “I helped teach Cheryl with her dance when she was a girl. Even then she was very determined and very hard working.

“Everyone in the region is behind her and we all hope she will pull through this.”

Cheryl was a member of First Act Theatre based at St Nicholas Hospital in Gosforth, Newcastle.

Artistic director Barry Wilmot said: “I knew Cheryl when she came to us as a kid - about 10-years-old. She had a spark about her then.”

Steve Gater, headteacher of Walker Technology College, where Cheryl went to school, also gave his support.

He said: “It is a very strong community in this area and we are all behind Cheryl. We hope that she will come through this difficult period.”

Celebrity heartache

CHERYL Cole is not the first star from the North to suffer celebrity heartache.

Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton, who grew up in Gateshead, married boyband member Andy Scott-Lee in 2006 but they split up just two years later.

Washington-born Heather Mills became famous around the world when she married Beatle Paul McCartney in 2002. But they split acrimoniously and divorced after a lengthy court battle in 2008.

Actress Melanie Hill, from Sunderland, married fellow thesp Sean Bean in 1990 but their marriage lasted only seven years, reportedly because he was too obsessed with his favourite football team, Sheffield United.

But former Newcastle United and Sunderland striker Michael Chopra probably beats them all, eventually splitting up with WAG wife Heather Swan after a tempestuos relatinship which saw them fall out on their wedding day.