Cheryl appeared emotional as she was supported by her Girls Aloud bandmates at the official opening night of her West End debut. The singer has already spent a couple of weeks performing in 2:22: A Ghost Story.
She will be playing Jenny, a woman who fears her new home is haunted, in the show until April 23. And the praise has been flooding in for Cheryl, 39, who took over the part from former Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore.
The Fight For This Love singer previously played herself in Hollywood movie What To Expect When You're Expecting and had a small role as a cutthroat music agent in 2020 film Four Kids And It. But speaking about landing her new role earlier this month, Cheryl said: "A few people have said they wouldn't expect this from me. But for me it doesn't feel that far removed."
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She added to the Daily Mail: "I think we like people to be in their little box where we know where to find them and we know what we're going to expect. And when someone does something different, you're like, "Oh". But for me it feels like a natural progression, if you like, the next step."
But things appeared to get emotional on Wednesday night (February 1) as she reporedly received a standing ovation at press night for 2:22 A Ghost Story which saw Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh cheering her on from the audience. Simon Cowell's partner Lauren Silverman was also out in support as was Giovanni Fletcher, who replaced Lily Allen in the role of Jenny last year, was also in attendance with McFly star husband Tom.
A source in the audience told MailOnline: "Tears could be seen rolling down Cheryl’s cheeks during the curtain call, in which the cast received a standing ovation." They added: "Right at the front cheering her on were her Girls Aloud bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts, alongside Lauren Silverman. There wasn’t a single hiccup during the performance."
And a video posted by Nicola, who topped the charts with Cheryl and their bandmates Kimberley Nadine Coyle and the late Sarah Harding in the early noughties, appeared to show Cheryl full of emotion as she gave her final bows. In the video, Cheryl's eyes appeared filled with tears and puffy as she stood alongside her co-stars.
"Amazing!!!" Nicola simply penned alongside the video in which the audience could be heard clapping and cheering. Kimberly shared a similar video and sweetly said: "So bloody proud of this one. She was AMAZING," alongside a crying emoji.
Prior to her appearance on stage, Cheryl said she had "healthy amount of nerves" about making her West End debut but also said she has been baffled by how people have been shocked to hear she acts. "To me it's like another side of entertainment, it's not a million miles away for me," she told Sky News. "When I came to see the show it just felt right, I just felt like I could truly do that and enjoy it. And I have."
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