According to the Mirror newspaper, Cheryl Cole revealed last night that she is withdrawing from the world of celebrity – and doesn’t know when she’ll be back.
It has also been suggested that Cheryl has moved back in with her ex-husband Ashley Cole, following a recent overnight stay at their £5 million marital home in Godalming, Surrey.
In her statement an emotional Cheryl, 27, said: “I need a break. I need to rest and I need to reassess what I’m doing with my life. I haven’t had a break for nine years and I’m exhausted from it all. For once now I am going to take some time out.”
It has been reported that she may take up to a year out of the limelight to escape the stress of record companies and TV executives hounding her over work and deadlines.
Speaking about taking some time off Cheryl said: “I’ve not worked for a few weeks now and for once I don’t have to worry about anything,” she said. “For once I can have some time for myself – not worry about X Factor, not worry about recording an album, not worry about anything."
She added: “Suddenly I’m under no pressure and I actually feel the happiest I’ve felt in a long, long time. I’ve got a big place, I have enough money – and if I never get photographed again, I don’t care."
The 'Promise This' singer further stated: “I’ve always had people saying ‘we need to put an album out, we need to record it now’ and ‘we have to rehearse for this tour and that tour’ and ‘now we need to do auditions for X Factor’.”
Cheryl broke her silence after a turbulent and emotionally exhausting 18 months which have seen her TV career turned on its head, her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole collapse and her having to battle malaria.
The Mirror reports that a friend close to Cheryl said: “It’s been exhausting for her. And that’s why for the first time there’s no deadline for her... there’s no auditions for X Factor, there’s no tour plan, there’s no tour to rehearse. There’s nothing.”
The humiliation of being dumped by Simon Cowell from the judging role on X Factor USA left her mentally exhausted and she has not ventured out of her home in Hadley Wood, North London, since returning to the UK.
A source close to her family said: “Cheryl is coming out of a very dark place. She wants to be left alone.
Cheryl has been almost permanently in the spotlight since TV show Pop Stars: The Rivals in 2002.
