Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has some advice for her younger self: stop caring what people think.

The pop star rose to fame as part of Girls Aloud in 2002, and was astonished to find people could be so mean.

Cheryl has developed a thick skin
Cheryl has developed a thick skin (Ian West/PA)

Asked what she wishes she could tell the younger Cheryl, she said: “Just don’t worry. It’ll be fine. Don’t care. Stop caring. I’d have told myself to stop caring what people think a lot earlier on.”

She told the Mirror: “I was sensitive at the beginning and I didn’t understand how somebody who knew nothing about me could write such terrible things.

“Never met me. Never spoken to me. But had such a vicious opinion of me, and it would blow my mind.

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, then Cheryl Tweedy, in 2003
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, then Cheryl Tweedy, in 2003 (Yui Mok/PA)

“I was 19, they’d call me fat. That was horrible. And all the lies. But now, I live my life. And they can live their life writing about me.”

On whether criticism still ever gets to her, she said: “I’m too far through the mill for that. You get slapped so many times, at some point it just stops hurting.”

Cheryl has confirmed she will not be returning to The X Factor as a judge, instead focusing on recording new music.

Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini sit together at an awards show
Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (Yui Mok/PA)

She revealed: “I’m excited, I’m ready to go again. I’m just working on different sounds and figuring stuff out at the moment.

“Am I nervous? Nah. Not now. Now I do it because I enjoy it. I’m not fearful of it. It’s what I love. That’s the reason to do it.”

The pop star, who is dating One Direction’s Liam Payne, also revealed she has a tendency to shop online while enjoying a drink in the evening.

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Liam Payne at the Global Gift Gala, making their red carpet debut
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Liam Payne at the Global Gift Gala, making their red carpet debut (Francois Mori/AP)

“The red wine? I think it helps,” she said.

“The good thing is you can send it back, so you can put what you like in your basket. When I’ve had a glass of red wine I’m more like, ‘It’ll be fine!’

“I’ve had those moments when it’s arrived and thought, “Did I really order THAT?”

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (Ian West/PA)