There’s no doubt about it, Cheryl is back at the top of her game - with a sell-out reunion tour for Girls Aloud where fans are going wild for her, there’s no stopping the singer. But as her 41st birthday approaches on June 30, sources are saying she feels like something is missing - another baby.
With four Brit Award nominations and seven million album sales in the UK under her belt, Cheryl has been making waves in the showbiz world ever since she shot to fame on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and later as a judge on the X Factor, but the one thing that’s made her life feel truly complete is being a mum.
In fact, the 40 year old - who shares son Bear, seven, with former One Direction star Liam Payne, 30 - once famously said: “I know that is what I was put on earth to do - to be a mother.”
Now, according to our source, it’s a mix of nostalgia and broodiness that has led the Fight For This Love singer - who is currently touring with bandmates Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts - to believe it’s now or never to have a sibling for her only son.
Cheryl still hasn’t given up hope of having another baby but with her 41st birthday coming up later this month, she knows she needs to act fast. Bear is seven now and growing up so quickly and she misses the baby and toddler phase.
“She was always desperate to have more than one and it hasn’t worked out that way so far but she’s not ruling it out. She’s seen how well Bear gets on with his cousins and Kimberley’s boys and she knows he’d be the best big brother,” the source said.
Cheryl and Liam first met when Liam auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 and then welcomed their son Bear in March 2017, just over a year after they began dating. They split in July 2018 but have remained on friendly terms to co-parent Bear. They’ve also gone to huge lengths to protect his privacy and haven’t shown his face online.
But as for having another baby together, Cheryl has made it clear that’s off the cards.
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In 2020, following her split from Liam, she spoke about her hopes of giving Bear a sibling: “If time was on my side and I was in my twenties, yeah, I would wait and consider more options, or wait for somebody I felt was right.”
However, Cheryl later admitted to the Mail in January 2023 that she also wouldn’t rule out the idea of adoption either if it meant welcoming another baby. She explained: “Maybe adoption, I just love babies and children and I’d do anything to help or have another one around but it’s not as prevalent anymore.”
And speaking to The Telegraph’s Stella magazine in 2019 Cheryl discussed other methods of becoming a mum again.
“I’ve got a friend who has had two children using donors,” she said. “Not everything has to be conventional.”
Now, as Girls Aloud gear up to finish their highly-anticipated tour after an 11 year hiatus on June 30 - the exact same day as Cheryl’s birthday - it looks like a big decision could be on the cards for her.
“Thanks to the tour, she’s in great shape and feels this would be the ideal time to have another baby.”
Cheryl has made it no secret in the past about her wishes to have a large family, especially as the The Greatest Dancer judge is one out of five siblings herself.
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The star - who has been married twice, first to footballer Ashley Cole from 2006 to 2010, then dancer Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini from 2014–2016, revealed in 2019 that she has always “loved babies”. Cheryl even once told Weekend magazine that she wanted “100 kids”, admitting, “I’m always broody, I’ve been broody since I was about 13 years old.”
And, according to a source, she is now reportedly feeling broodier than ever to expand her family.
“When she was younger, she always thought she’d have loads of children like her mum and that was the plan when she married Ashley. But obviously things turned out differently and it took her a long time to become a mum, which is the best thing that’s ever happened to her,” the source continued.
“She often worries about Bear being an only child and in an ideal world, he would definitely be a big brother by now. And she’s been inspired by mums who have had children later in life and by themselves and she knows she can do it.”