Cheryl Cole: Her Story - the Unauthorized Biography by Gerard Sanderson Page A
Authors: Gerard Sanderson
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their parents had filled an inflatable paddling pool with water when they were kids. This was a whole new world to them – most of them had grown up in a working-class environment – but this was a world, they realized, that they could quite possibly be living in if they made it through to the band.
All the girls knew that they now needed to outshine each other during the live shows if they were to make the band. Having reached this stage, Cheryl felt very confident in her ability and believed she had a good chance. She knew her success depended not only on her own performance, however, but also on those of the other girls, whom she considered just as strong and confident as herself.
And indeed they were a formidable collection of singers. There was Sarah Harding, the self-confessed ‘loon’ from Stockport; Lynsey Brown from Salford, who had already become close chums with Sarah; doll-like blonde Aimee Kearsley, who at just sixteen was shy and gentle; Chloe Staines, a redhead from Chelmsford; Nadine Coyle, Louis’s old Irish Popstars winner; London-born Javine Hylton, who the judges thought was the UK’s answer to Whitney Houston; smiley Kimberley Walsh, who’d been hastily brought in to replace a pregnant entrant called Hazel Kanaswarn (who had turned out to be too old to take part in the show); and savvy Nicola Ward from Croydon.
The final girl was Emma Beard, from Northampton, the sweet young singer who Geri had said looked so like Cheryl that she thought only one of them would be able to make it through to the band. Although she remembered from the auditions that Emma was one of the nicest of the girls, Cheryl couldn’t help but worry that her position was vulnerable and that she and Emma would be in direct competition.
It was soon clear that it wasn’t just Cheryl who was affected by the stress of the competition: she and eight of the girls were rocked by the news that Nicola Ward had decided to walk out on the show just days before the live shows kicked off. While host Davina McCall would announce on the girls’ first live showthat Nicola had quit for personal reasons – she had previously admitted that she had been missing her fiancé – Nicola later revealed that she wasn’t happy with the contract the girls had been asked to sign.
‘They are trying to make us sign our life away,’ she was reported as saying in the Mirror. ‘The contract is outrageous. If we win, we have to sign up to an agreement which means they own us. They can use our faces on mugs, band duvets and God knows what. And we’ll only get £1,500 a week for touring while they’re raking it in. They’ll be making profits from ticket sales, T-shirts, TV interviews and paying us a pittance.’
She also said the recent demise of Hear’Say was warning enough of the pitfalls a band created through a reality show could face. Instead, she said she was keen to concentrate on her own solo career, a career that would, sadly for one so ambitious and talented, never materialize.
Even though Cheryl understood Nicola’s reasons for quitting, she was willing to take a gamble. If the band became big, then one day perhaps she and the girls could take control of their destiny and renegotiate their contract as the Spice Girls had done before them. For now, Cheryl was quite happy to ‘sign away her life’, as Nicola had put it, if it meant that her dreams would finally come true.
While the house was sad to see Nicola go, her sudden departure meant there was a gap that needed to be filled. And the lucky girl to be given a second shot at stardom was flame-haired Nicola Roberts from Runcorn. Although she had made the final fifteen, Louis had initially described her during the audition stages as ‘nice, but not great’. However, the judges reckoned that she had a certain something that set her apartfrom most of the wannabes – and that she could be the Ginger Spice of the band.
Instead of receiving the news via one of the judges, producers of
All the girls knew that they now needed to outshine each other during the live shows if they were to make the band. Having reached this stage, Cheryl felt very confident in her ability and believed she had a good chance. She knew her success depended not only on her own performance, however, but also on those of the other girls, whom she considered just as strong and confident as herself.
And indeed they were a formidable collection of singers. There was Sarah Harding, the self-confessed ‘loon’ from Stockport; Lynsey Brown from Salford, who had already become close chums with Sarah; doll-like blonde Aimee Kearsley, who at just sixteen was shy and gentle; Chloe Staines, a redhead from Chelmsford; Nadine Coyle, Louis’s old Irish Popstars winner; London-born Javine Hylton, who the judges thought was the UK’s answer to Whitney Houston; smiley Kimberley Walsh, who’d been hastily brought in to replace a pregnant entrant called Hazel Kanaswarn (who had turned out to be too old to take part in the show); and savvy Nicola Ward from Croydon.
The final girl was Emma Beard, from Northampton, the sweet young singer who Geri had said looked so like Cheryl that she thought only one of them would be able to make it through to the band. Although she remembered from the auditions that Emma was one of the nicest of the girls, Cheryl couldn’t help but worry that her position was vulnerable and that she and Emma would be in direct competition.
It was soon clear that it wasn’t just Cheryl who was affected by the stress of the competition: she and eight of the girls were rocked by the news that Nicola Ward had decided to walk out on the show just days before the live shows kicked off. While host Davina McCall would announce on the girls’ first live showthat Nicola had quit for personal reasons – she had previously admitted that she had been missing her fiancé – Nicola later revealed that she wasn’t happy with the contract the girls had been asked to sign.
‘They are trying to make us sign our life away,’ she was reported as saying in the Mirror. ‘The contract is outrageous. If we win, we have to sign up to an agreement which means they own us. They can use our faces on mugs, band duvets and God knows what. And we’ll only get £1,500 a week for touring while they’re raking it in. They’ll be making profits from ticket sales, T-shirts, TV interviews and paying us a pittance.’
She also said the recent demise of Hear’Say was warning enough of the pitfalls a band created through a reality show could face. Instead, she said she was keen to concentrate on her own solo career, a career that would, sadly for one so ambitious and talented, never materialize.
Even though Cheryl understood Nicola’s reasons for quitting, she was willing to take a gamble. If the band became big, then one day perhaps she and the girls could take control of their destiny and renegotiate their contract as the Spice Girls had done before them. For now, Cheryl was quite happy to ‘sign away her life’, as Nicola had put it, if it meant that her dreams would finally come true.
While the house was sad to see Nicola go, her sudden departure meant there was a gap that needed to be filled. And the lucky girl to be given a second shot at stardom was flame-haired Nicola Roberts from Runcorn. Although she had made the final fifteen, Louis had initially described her during the audition stages as ‘nice, but not great’. However, the judges reckoned that she had a certain something that set her apartfrom most of the wannabes – and that she could be the Ginger Spice of the band.
Instead of receiving the news via one of the judges, producers of
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