Cheryl Cole: It's all over. Now the battle is on for £22m as X Factor queen throws out her cheating husband

By Sara Nathan and Ben Todd

It's over: Cheryl Cole, pictured here arriving at London's Heathrow airport yesterday, has announced she is separating from her husband Ashley


Cheryl Cole split from her cheating husband Ashley yesterday after a tumultuous three-and-a-half-year marriage - and now faces a £22million divorce battle.

After enduring more than a week of humiliating revelations about the Chelsea defender's serial betrayals, the X Factor judge finally declared their union was over.

The 26-year-old confirmed the split hours after arriving home from a week in Los Angeles, where she had been counselled by close friends including Simon Cowell and dancer Derek Hough.

The singer - who has 'Mrs Cole' tattooed on the back of her neck - and the 29-year-old England defender now face an acrimonious struggle as they divide up their estimated £22million fortune.

The Daily Mail has learned that Cole has already told his glamorous wife she will have to battle to get any of his money - and blames all their marriage woes on her mother Joan, 49, moving into their nine-bedroom £6million Surrey mansion.

A brief statement issued by the singer yesterday said: 'Cheryl Cole is separating from her husband Ashley Cole.

'Cheryl asks the media to respect her privacy during this difficult time. We have no further comment to make.'





Last night it was reported that Ashley Cole bombarded his wife with desperate phone calls begging her to save their marriage and even offered to go to rehab to tackle his sex problems.

He was said to have left a string of emotional voicemails begging the X Factor star to reconsider their separation, but she refused to answer the calls, according to the Sun.

Cole's last ditch attempt to save his marriage mirrors that of Tiger Woods, another sports hero who has fallen from grace, who went to rehab.

Cheryl is now expected to take up Simon Cowell's offer for her to appear on the new U.S. version of The X Factor - a far cry from her plans to try for a baby next year - and has already looked at a £2.1million Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills.

Mrs Cole had told her husband she wanted a divorce before flying to Los Angeles for work and wanted him out of the house by the time she got home.

The couple did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their wedding in 2006, with Mrs Cole famously saying: 'I think that's defeating the point.

'We're getting married because we're committing ourselves to each other to spend the rest of our lives together. No ifs and buts.

'We're a work in progress, we're going to build our married life together not thinking about if it ever ends.'

A source close to Mrs Cole said last night: 'This was a terrible decision for Cheryl to make, it's the worst thing she's ever had to do, but enough was enough.
'She is resting at home with her mum Joan and all her friends around her. Her Girls Aloud bandmates are supporting her.
'Yesterday was just exhausting and she just spent the evening relaxing with a plate of beans on toast.'



photo: dailymail