Cheryl to Ashley Cole: It’s over

CHERYL Cole split from her cheating husband Ashley on Tuesday, after a tumultuous three-and-a-half-year marriage – and now faces a £22 million 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.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 £22 million fortune. 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.’ On Tuesday night it was reported that Ashley 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.A close friend told the paper: ‘Ashley was calling every ten minutes or so and leaving messages. He was still very emotional and in distress. He suggested they could go for counselling and that he could try therapy. He admitted for the first time that he has problem.’Cheryl refused to answer any of the calls and they went straight to voicemail.Cheryl is now expected to take up Simon Cowell’s offer for her to appear on the new US version of The X Factor – a far cry from her plans to try for a baby next year – and has already looked at a £2,1 million Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills. 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.’ In an interview last October, Mrs Cole said she had been left heartbroken by Cole’s infidelity with hairdresser Aimee Walton in 2007, which was made public in 2008, saying: ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t trust anybody in life except my mother and my dogs.’ Cole’s cheating was exposed this month after it was revealed that explicit pictures of him were sent from his phone to Page Three girl Sonia Wild. Last week Mrs Cole was devastated when allegations emerged claiming that he had slept with Vicki Gough, a 30-year-old secretary at Liverpool FC. One of Cole’s alleged one night stands – the fourth to come forward – then claimed he had sobbed down the phone to her that he would die if he lost his wife over their fling. He is said to have pleaded with US political aide Ann Corbitt to keep quiet about twice having sex with her in a Seattle hotel last July when Chelsea was on a pre-season tour. A fifth alleged flame, Alexandra Taylor, also came forward to say she had sex with Cole on the night he ‘went public’ with Cheryl in late 2004. – dailymail.co.uk

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