We know her for being one of the girls from Girls Aloud, the British band that comes extremely close to the Spice Girls without being anything like it. We also know Cheryl for being the wife of footballer Ashley Cole, star of Chelsea and England, whom she married in the summer of 2006, during a fairy-tale-like wedding ceremony. What we don’t know (or haven’t until now) is that gorgeous Cheryl also struggles with her weight, as she tells the upcoming issue of Vogue.

Featured in a fabulous spread in the February issue of the magazine, out on Thursday, the singer reveals that she often has periods when she craves food and when she consequently gains weight. Cheryl also speaks of something regular women are more than familiar with, the so-called “fat” days, when there is absolutely nothing that anyone can do to put her in a better mood. 

However, both the “fat” days and the extra weight are not a problem for Cheryl, as she’s a loyal follower of the Atkins Diet, a regime she took up in her first days as a Girls Aloud member and which she hasn’t given up yet. “Jennifer Aniston was doing something called the Atkins Diet at the time and I thought I’d give it a try.” Cheryl tells Vogue about a particular 2003 incident that made her burst into tears and decide to lose weight. “The record company had just moved us into this hotel called K West and I remember I ate the same thing from room service - chicken in cream sauce with a couple of carrots - every night, for weeks, and I just felt horrible. But I was on this mission.” the singer recalls. 

“I DO struggle to control my weight,” Cheryl also adds, explaining that, for her, this is truly an issue she must always bear in mind, especially since she’s not that tall to start with. And, while she would probably never be what regular people can call fat, she is aware that being a star, constantly in the spotlight, calls for sacrifices on her behalf, and compromises she is more than willing to make because they are well worth it.

In the same issue of Vogue, Cheryl also speaks about being clinically depressed ever since she was little, about how rumors of Ashley cheating on her just months after saying their “I Do’s” changed their marriage and how she felt about that, and about how she ended up with a criminal record, and whether she has any regrets about it.