Cheryl Burke

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Lore & Background

Cheryl Ann Tweedy was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 30 June 1983, and grew up on council estates in the suburbs of Walker and Heaton. She is the fourth of five children of Joan Callaghan, and the first of her two children with Garry Tweedy following the collapse of her marriage to the father of her three other children. Cheryl's parents were together for more than a decade but never married; they separated when she was 11 years old. At the age of seven, Cheryl appeared in a television advertisement for British Gas. Interested in dancing from an early age, she began sequence dancing at the age of four, and participated in a short summer holiday course at the Royal Ballet School's Summer School at the age of nine. She occasionally appeared doing dance recitals on different television shows in the UK, such as Gimme 5, in 1993. Cheryl auditioned for Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, singing "Have You Ever" in her audition. She was one of twenty finalists chosen by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. 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. 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. In 2008, Cheryl replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of The X Factor UK alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. She mentored two of the eventual winners of the competition (Alexandra Burke in series five and Joe McElderry in series six), before resigning in 2011 after series seven and joining the panel of the American edition, which she left during the auditions stage. She returned to judge series eleven and twelve of the British series in 2014 and 2015. Cheryl next served as a judge on the television dance competition The Greatest Dancer from 2019 to 2020, and made her stage debut in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2023.

Reader's Guide

Cheryl's significance lies in her dual success as a member of Girls Aloud and as a solo artist. With Girls Aloud, she was part of the UK's best-selling girl group of the 21st century, achieving 20 consecutive UK top ten singles, four number ones, two UK number one albums, and five Brit Award nominations, winning Best Single for "The Promise" in 2009. The group went on hiatus in 2013 and reunited for a tour in 2024. As a solo artist, Cheryl released four studio albums between 2009 and 2014, and became the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK: "Fight for This Love", "Promise This", "Call My Name", "Crazy Stupid Love" and "I Don't Care". Her debut solo album 3 Words spent two weeks at number one and was certified platinum. "Fight for This Love" entered the UK and Irish charts at number one, became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK, and was certified platinum. On television, Cheryl mentored two X Factor winners (Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry), judged The Greatest Dancer, and made her West End stage debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2023. She has been photographed for the covers of British Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar, and fronted L'Oréal from 2009 to 2018.

Did You Know?

• Cheryl was the first contestant to qualify for Girls Aloud on Popstars: The Rivals on 30 November 2002.
• Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between being formed as a band and achieving a number one single.
• Cheryl's debut solo single 'Fight for This Love' was the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK.
• She is the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK.
• Cheryl made her stage debut in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2023.