Cheryl Fernandez-Versini "coped in public and crumbled in private" when she discovered ex-husband Ashley Cole had cheated on her.
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
The 32-year-old star has opened up about having to go through with her performance at the BRIT Awards in 2010 shortly after news broke that the soccer star had been unfaithful.
She said: "To be honest, I coped in public and crumbled in private.
"It's growth, it's life. They say a good sailor would never be a good sailor if he hadn't experienced a rough sea."
Cheryl also revealed that many people who judged her for getting back together with Ashley, 34, after they'd split have since apologised to her after going through the same thing in their own relationships.
The 'I Don't Care' hitmaker told InStyle magazine: "It's funny - those who didn't understand my actions at the time have now had that happen to them and they get it. A friend of mine told me her husband was having an affair and she said, 'I understand everything that must have been going through your head. But what I will never understand is how you had to face the world.' "
Cheryl - who split from Cole for good after discovering he'd cheated on her again - is now happily married to French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.
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