'We were told to lose weight' - Cheryl Cole

British pop group Girls Aloud were told to lose weight at the beginning of their careers, according to Cheryl Cole.

The 28-year-old and her bandmates Sarah Harding, 30, Nadine Coyle, 26, Kimberley Walsh, 30, and Nicola Roberts, 26, won ITV talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002, but after the competition Cheryl claims that their record label told them to improve their image by getting thinner.

In an interview with British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the Promise This singer said: 'There was a stage when we didn't look that great. We were all told to lose weight by the record label.'

She added: 'We lost weight, but naturally. We were so young.'

The Geordie beauty admitted that there was a lot of pressure on how the girls looked.
She said: 'We didn't really think about it... All we wanted was to sell records.'



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And while Cole may be a massive star these days, she remembers a time when designers didn't want to be associated with the new girl group.

She said: 'To start, it was all on a budget. Some designers wouldn't lend to us, even when we were successful, which was really snobby. I remember who they are.'

These days, the star doesn't seem as bothered about what people think about her image.
She said: 'I couldn't care less what anyone says about the way I look.'


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Asked about the infamous purple flares and orange top combination she wore to one the US X Factor auditions, Cheryl added: 'I'm not being funny, but everybody else started wearing orange and purple. It's a fact. I love those trousers. I don't give a s*** if everybody else didn't like them. If anyone believes that [they had anything to do with her sacking from US X Factor], then they're even sillier than the person that wrote that.'

M&C