After staying out of the limelight for the past couple of years, Cheryl is certainly back with a bang. The former Girls Aloud star was set to make her stage acting debut last week in the hit West End show 2:22 A Ghost Story, following in the footsteps of Lily Allen, Giovanna Fletcher and Laura Whitmore. And while she’s very excited about getting back out there, she’s also scared as she’s spent so long being a stay-at-home mum to five-year-old son Bear.
“Rehearsals went well and she loved being back at work and really getting to know her castmates, but she’s still terrified over the comeback,” our insider says.
“She knows her part inside out, and she’s so excited to be back performing again and letting her creative spirit loose, but she’s terrified of having to do it in front of audiences. She’s got her own confidence demons to face – it’s hard to get back out there after a few years of being a stay-at-home mum. There are days when she thinks she’s being daft, imagining she can get back up on the stage and pull it off, and has felt like calling the whole thing off. But she knows it’s just the fear and the nerves talking.”
Although Cheryl, 39, performed for years with Girls Aloud and as a solo artist, as well as being a judge on The X Factor and The Greatest Dancer, she feels out of her comfort zone with this play and has been getting help. “In the last few weeks, she’s been doing a lot of meditation and visualisation, and worked on manifesting a great opening night to overcome the nerves,” our source continues.
“She says this has transformed her, and she wishes she had discovered it years ago. It helped give her a bigger picture and vision on the future. Cheryl has been so focused on this show for weeks now, she’s got her daily routine and is not deviating from it.”
And while she’s loving her new work life, she is finding it hard being away from Bear, who she shares with ex-partner Liam Payne, as she’ll be doing the play until April.
“She knows it’s only a few months, but she hates not being there with him every day and misses his chat so much,” we’re told.
“He’s so busy, and she has ringfenced their mornings together. He also has his granny and his dad around lots, plus he’s literally doing something after school every single day, so he’s having a great time.”
