Former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole has of course penned an autobiography entitled Cheryl: My Story, and in it, the Girls Aloud singer has of course documented the trauma of learning that her ex-husband Ashley Cole was unfaithful to her.

The couple subsequently split after Cheryl told him that she couldn’t cope with his adultery, and despite frequent rumours that the pair still love each other, Cheryl has stuck to her vow to never commit to a relationship with the footballer again.

However, in today’s Daily Star Sunday, it’s been revealed just how deep was the emotional pain to Cheryl by Ashley’s philandering in that the paper states she had a nervous breakdown as her marriage collapsed.

She said, “I just wanted to get out of the marriage and out of the house but as the day of the move got close I became more and more emotional.

“I hadn’t anticipated this. I think I was actually going through a nervous breakdown.”

Adding that she hid her pain from millions of fans as she appeared on The X Factor’s live shows, despite her public brave face, inside, she was “cracking up”.

She said, “On the face of it, I was coping. But I was still close to tears all the time.

“It was like my nerves were always close to snapping and I felt permanently on edge.”

Cheryl admitted that she then spent Christmas alone, as she couldn’t face being with anyone, not even her family.

She said, “Nobody could help me. ‘I’ll be fine’ I said. But really I wanted to say ‘Help me, I can’t live like this any more. I’m miserable as hell’.

“I broke down completely. I’m sure I’d been having a nervous breakdown for months. I can see that now.”

Cheryl’s book is on sale now.