After taking some time out of the limelight for several years, Cher Lloyd is back releasing new music.
The 31-year-old, who was raised in Malvern, Worcestershire, and whose family is of Romany origin, rose to fame in 2010, after coming fourth in the seventh season of X Factor, and being signed to Syco by Simon Cowell.
Her time on the show was not without controversy: despite being just 16 while taking part in the programme, she was painted by some as a villain, even being described as the ‘most hated teen’ in Britain.
However, she immediately impressed one of the judges, former Girls Aloud star Cheryl, the first time she stepped on the X Factor stage. After Cher’s rendition of Turn My Swag On, Cheryl (who would go on to become the youngster’s mentor) the judge said: ‘You are right up my street.’
However, despite such a promising start, Cher has spoken out about struggling on the show, and faced some negativity. She even fell out with her mentor Cheryl after the production, with the two having a bitter feud – though Cher has since apologised.
Many turned against the teenager when Cheryl put her through to the Boot Camp stage of the competition – at the expense of Gamu Nhengu, a fan favourite. Cher also faced accusations of diva-like strops. At one point, she admitted that she had a meltdown over an outfit she was supposed to perform in, instead sporting a pair of Cheryl’s heels.
However, this January, Cher returned to the spotlight with her first musical release in around four years – her single Head Down. And on April 4, she released another single, called Green Light. Here, FEMAIL looks at Cher Lloyd’s tumultuous journey from rags to riches…
Cher Lloyd is pictured in September 2010, during her audition for the seventh series of X Factor. She performed a rendition of Turn My Swag On
The musician is pictured performing during an X Factor live show in October 2010. She has since said appearing on the programme affected her mental health
‘Troubling’ childhood times
Cher has previously described her childhood as being ‘troubling’ at times. According to reports, her mother is of Romany descent and Cher lived in a caravan for the first year of her life, before then moving to a council estate.
She described the positives of living on a council estate, while appearing on Paul Brunson’ podcast We Need To Talk in January.
According to Cher, she made a lot of friends on the estate, and everyone ‘looked after each other’.
However, she also noted some negative aspects about her childhood, saying: ‘I did grow up around things that I feel now, as an adult and as a mother, children probably shouldn’t ever be exposed to.’
Cher said that her father wasn’t around for ‘long periods of time’ due to being in prison, meaning her mother raised the children on her own during these times. The pop star added that she was never ‘secure’ during her childhood, and would be ‘embarrassed’ when she had to tell people why her father wasn’t at home.
The teen, who once made headlines after being accused of ‘diva-like’ behaviour on X Factor is now a married mother-of-two (pictured in 2021)
Feeing ‘vulnerable’ on X Factor
Cher has spoken about her experience on X Factor several times. Notably, in 2021, she spoke to Rylan Clark on his podcast Ry-Union, describing her time on the show as ‘extremely challenging’.
The singer revealed she ‘felt really vulnerable’ on the X Factor as she would be chased by a ‘group of 20 to 25 men with cameras’ after rehearsals.
She spoke about being hounded by paparazzi saying: ‘I just always remember knowing not to wear a skirt without shorts.’
Cher added: ‘At times I’d get really angry. I felt angry because I’d go to a rehearsal, leave the studio, and chased on my own, chased by a group of 20 to 25 men with cameras.
‘I just felt really vulnerable. There’d be a chaperone person for everyone as a group, of course, we were underage.
‘But at times, from walking to the studio or a car, you’d be alone. That didn’t stop. The sheer amount of paparazzi would wait outside of those studios. I just always remember knowing not to wear a skirt without shorts.’
She revealed: ‘You’d go to get in the car and the first thing they’d do was place the camera below. It happened all the time and I just think, I spent a lot of time being very frustrated that I felt alone.’
She continued to say that at 16, she knew that ‘was the way forward’ revealing it ‘was brutal back then. It’s not like how it is now.’
‘Painted as the villain’
Cher (pictured in 2020) took part in X Factor in 2010. She has since reflected on how the experience affected her mental health
Speaking on Paul Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast in January this year, Cher revealed the devastating impact her time on The X Factor had on her mental health.
The star confessed that due to the fact she hit out at negative attention towards her she was ‘painted as the villain’ by bosses.
Offering insight into the show’s welfare support at the time, Cher went onto add that even though she was just 16 when she took part on the show, she was prescribed antidepressants.
She said: ‘I was oblivious, I truly believed that going on a show like The X Factor was gonna be just fun, fun and I’m gonna get to sing which is exactly what I wanted, it wasn’t just that. It was so much more.
‘They have to entertain people, unfortunately it’s not just about the signing and I think because I had such confidence and was such a presence at that time I think that was a gateway into kind of giving me the character of the villain.
‘I guess I was the villain that year which tends to happen in reality TV, and I’m not saying that I was perfect because I definitely wasn’t, I think I struggled a lot on the show with how to deal with this instant fame, and people’s comments towards me and the negative attention.
‘I didn’t know how to deal with it, but at the same time I look back and I think I didn’t deserve half the stuff that happened to me, I definitely didn’t. And I’d feel the same if that was my daughter, if my daughter had to go through that I’d pull her. 1,000,000 per cent.’
Detailing how she struggled with negative comments from viewers, Cher admitted she would ‘constantly bite back,’ and it made her feel like she had ‘lost all control of her life.’
She added that it was ‘tiny micro things,’ such as being told to wear clothes she didn’t like by the show’s stylist, that made her feel like she was ‘losing her mind.’
‘I didn’t feel like I had anyone to turn to. No one to talk to properly because they were on the show,’ she said.
‘So where do you go? I felt like I was watching myself from the outside and I was watching myself spiral, I was spiraling, I was angry really really angry, because all of a sudden it wasn’t fun anymore.’
Asked by Paul about the mental health support on offer to contestants at the time, Cher said there was a ‘team’ on hand, but added: ‘I was given antidepressants while on the show, I was 16 and I was prescribed antidepressants, I thought that was the norm, I guess this is showbiz.
‘I felt like I had to because, was it gonna get better? Was it gonna stop? I don’t know.’
Spat with Cheryl
Cher (pictured, right) instantly impressed Cheryl (pictured, left) with her X Factor audition, but the two had a spat after the show. Cher has since apologised
Despite immediately impressing Cheryl with her first X Factor performance, with the Girls Aloud star going onto become the then-16-year-old’s mentor, the two famously argued after the show.
The pair fell out in 2011, when Cher released her first single. During press for the song, Swagger Jagger, when asked if she speaks to Cheryl still, she said she had ‘more chance of winning the lottery than catching up’ with her.
Cher then went on to accuse Cheryl of miming during a performance of her hit track Fight For This Love.
Cheryl later hit back on Twitter, writing: ‘Be Careful who you kick on your way up… They kick you twice as hard on your way back down… #unappreciationisugly.’
Cher quickly back-tracked, admitting on ITV’s daybreak that she ‘shouldn’t have’ gone in on the Geordie star.
‘I just want to say sorry to her if she found that offensive. But at the end of the day, she is the person who got me to where I am today,’ Cher said, eating a hearty helping of humble pie.
During Cher’s time on the show Cheryl spoke about rumours Cher has been causing issues with her attitude at the time – insisting there had been no trouble with the singer.
She said: ‘I think she is 17, she’s got that teenage edge going on. She is different. And I get her completely.
‘All the girls are great girls, honestly. I have to work with them as well – I wouldn’t put them through if I didn’t think I could.’
Referring to a report Cher had thrown a ‘tantrum’ over an outfit which had been picked out for one live performance, Cheryl said: ‘I like to hear their opinions.
‘I’m not going to say, ‘That’s what you’re wearing, that’s what you’re doing. But there’s no stropping going on, I wouldn’t be able to handle that.’
While appearing on Paul Brunson’s podcast in January, she spoke fondly about her former mentor.
She said: ‘What I will say is Cheryl was nothing but good to me. I had a feeling that she knew (I was having a hard time) and she would always ask if I was okay.
‘I knew that she meant it when she said it. I knew that she was actually really saying ‘are you okay?’ Like ‘do you need help?’.
‘I felt supported by her, but everything else around I just felt like it was just for the show.’
Marriage and motherhood
Cher tied the knot with Craig Monk (both pictured) when she was just 20-years-old. They now share two daughters
The musician has described living in Los Angeles with her husband Craig as a ‘dream’ – they have since moved back to the UK and now share two daughters
While it appears that the years following X Factor were challenging in some ways for Cher, there were also positives.
Notably, Cher married her boyfriend Craig Monk, in November 2013, when she was just 20-years-old. According to reports, the pair met in 2011, when Craig – a hairdresser by trade – was doing Cher’s hair extensions.
They moved to Los Angeles in 2012, where Cher’s US debut single Want U Back hit number 12 on the Billboard 100. However, her second single Oath did not perform as well, reaching number 73.
In 2014, Cher split from her US label Epic. She says that they lived in LA for ‘three or four years’, before moving back to the UK.
Speaking about her marriage several years ago while appearing on Loose Women, Cher said: ‘I got married when I was 20, you know when you grow up and dream of that fairy tale of course we’ve had our ups and downs, but honest it is like a fairy tale with me and him.
‘We lived [in Los Angeles] for a while, that was like a dream, fortunately we went over I had one suitcase and I thought I was just going for a bit of promo, and we ended up staying there about three or four years.
The couple share two daughters. Their first, Delilah-Rae, was born in May 2018. She was followed by Eliza Violet, who was born in September, 2023.
Cher has been open about experiencing post natal depression after having her secind child. Again, she made the comments while speaking on Paul Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast earlier this year.
The former X Factor star has been open about experiencing post natal depression after the birth of her second child
She revealed that she would see visions of ‘cars driving into her baby’ while walking down the street and was ‘unable to sleep or eat’, as she opened about her struggles for the first time.
Cher also admitted that her battle with postnatal depression ‘shook her to her core,’ and left her considering the prospect of never having any more children.
She said: ‘After I had my youngest daughter Eliza, I’d heard about postnatal depression, before but I didn’t understand what it meant for someone to go through it. So what I started experiencing was real loneliness, but also I doubted myself in everything that I was doing and I had this overwhelming fear that something was going to happen to my baby, and it started to affect my mental health severely.’
She added that she ‘had the shakes all the time’, couldn’t sleep or eat, and always felt sick, noting it ‘was the worst time of my life when it was supposed to be the happiest’.
Cher went onto share that it ‘took her a very long time’ to pluck up the carriage to get help from her GP, and now she’s in a ‘much better mental state.’
Cher Lloyd’s new single Green Light was released on April 4.
