Having been raised on a 'heroin-ridden' council estate in Byker, singer and TV personality Cheryl Cole has come a long way from her poor Geordie roots.
As one fifth of girl band Girls Aloud, she's helped them become one of the most successful reality TV bands in history, accumulating a fortune of £25 million by May 2009 and holding the record for 'Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group' in the 2008 Guinness Book of Records.
Having appeared on will.i.am's 'Heartbreaker' video, she has has since launched her own solo album called 3 words which features collaborations with Taio Cruz and Bloodshy & Avant. Girls Aloud are scheduled to reunite in 2010 so it will be interesting to see how long Cheryl's solo gig works out; reviews so far have been less than favourable.