Cheryls Pain: Brothers 44th Conviction Shocks Friends

When Tweedy walked down the aisle to marry England star Ashley Cole in 2006, she was cheered on by her beloved mother and siblings.

It was, for her, the latest 'pinch me' moment after she was catapulted to fame with pop band , taking her from a council estate in Newcastle to fame and fortune.

Just four years earlier she had been an unknown contestant on reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

Now, as she drew up to the venue in a horse-drawn carriage, dressed in her dream Roberto Cavalli dress, it was a real-life fairytale come true for Cheryl.

The 2006 celebration at the Wrotham Park estate in Hertfordshire was also a star-studded one. Cheryl's bridesmaids included her Girls Aloud bandmates , , and the late , while Ashley's Arsenal and England team mates were also there.

But for the singer, now 42, her big day was mostly about family. Yet as they watched her say 'I do', there was a sad reminder of the life she had left behind – her brother Andrew's absence.

It wasn't that she had shunned him. She would have loved for him to be there – but he was in locked up prison, serving a four-year term for a brutal mugging.

It meant Andrew couldn't join his mother Joan or siblings Joe, Gillian and Garry to share in Cheryl's happiness.

Cheryl's friends said at the time it was 'very sad' for her, so much so she had visited Andrew shortly before her big day and begged him to change his ways.

'She was heartbroken about Andrew not being there,' says an associate of the star. 'While Cheryl had a new life she never forgot her family despite Andrew bringing a lot of upset to Cheryl's childhood, so of course she wanted him there.'

'She was really cross he was in prison again, it had become very frustrating and upsetting for her, even back then.

'That said, the fact he wasn't meant that she could enjoy her day without worrying about any drama with him.

'Just before she got married she went to see him in prison, she felt she had to do that but her pleas fell on deaf ears.'

This week Andrew's troubles were again brought to the fore when he was pictured living in a tent behind a Morrisons in Jarrow, South Tyneside. He was first known to have become homeless in 2021 and has a history of drink and drug addiction.

Last month he appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court, where he pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly outside that Morrisons branch on February 25.

Police were called as he was shouting and swearing at customers, and when they arrived he told them to, 'F*** off', adding: 'What are you going to do?'

The court heard it was his 44th conviction for 115 offences including armed robbery, for which he was jailed for six years.

He told magistrates he wanted to get help and that he was back living in the family home in Heaton, Newcastle.

He said: 'I'm trying to fix my life and fix my problems. It's a process but it's all just starting.'

Andrew was handed a six-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £113.

Speaking to The Sun, Andrew, 45, said: 'I have been in rehab three times but I'm not going back.

'I am one of those people that take one step forward and ten steps back. Every time.'

While it isn't known what Cheryl makes of the new photos, she spent many, many years trying to get him lasting help.

She would offer to pay for rehab but he refused. Even Ashley Cole would encourage him before he and Cheryl split in 2010, knowing how much it was hurting his wife.

I saw first-hand what Andrew's plight meant to her.

Back before Cheryl stopped being so Press-friendly (which happened in 2008 when it was revealed Ashley had cheated on her with hairdresser Aimee Walton), I would have numerous conversations with her about family and our siblings.

Like her, I have several, and she was always very kind, offering to get my younger sisters Girls Aloud tickets.

Once, back in 2006, she spoke of Andrew and how she found his problems extremely difficult. Her usually bubbly persona turned to one of sadness. In fact, she looked like she was going to cry.

'Cheryl felt utterly powerless to get Andrew on the right tracks,' says a friend of hers. 'She has millions in the bank and money can change a lot but with this one, it was impossible.

'She offered and she offered. She was at her wits' end, she would visit him in prison and beg him but he just wouldn't take her offer.

'She tried and she tried and she tried. He would say he was too far gone. Cheryl would be in tears often about it, money had nothing to do with it, she just wanted her brother to be okay.

'She was devastated that she couldn't make that happen.'

Today, I understand, there is 'very, very little contact' with Andrew. 'If any,' adds a source.

'Cheryl gave it her all, he didn't want to be helped.'

While the shocking 2024 death of One Direction singer Liam Payne – the father of her nine-year-old son Bear and her partner of two years – and its impact on Cheryl has been well , it's all a reminder that behind her trademark smile and success, her life was never perfect.

'Andrew's problems were always there,' says a friend. 'It was especially hard on Cheryl's mother, who she is very close to.

'From the outside she had it all, but there was this niggling, horrible problem in her life.'

But then, say friends, Andrew

Life was tough for her, and in her 2012 autobiography she told of the moment that prompted Andrew to spiral out of control.

'My brother Andrew had burst in the front door in a terrible rage. I'd never ever seen him in such a state and he started ranting and raving at my mum and dad,' she wrote.