"Here is shameless Cheryl Cole telling us how much she want this wag franchise to work:
I'll stand by Ashley
DEVASTATED Cheryl Cole has pledged to stand by disgraced husband Ashley and honour every word of her solemn wedding vows — despite his drunken night of shame with a blonde.
In a searingly frank world-exclusive interview, the stunning Girls Aloud star spoke for the first time of her pain and anguish at the scandal surrrounding the England ace.
HURTING BUT STILL TOGETHER: Cheryl and Ashley battling to save their marriage at a secret location - but pledging that they are determined to stick it out "When I married Ashley I made my vows and promised we'd be together for better or worse," she said. "This has to be the worst it gets."
And we can reveal Cheryl is CONVINCED her husband never had sex with 22-year-old Aimee Walton, BELIEVES his story and is still DETERMINED they can make their marriage work.
CLICK TO SEE ASHLEY AND CHERYL'S LIFE IN PICTURES
Although Ashley's shame only hit the headlines on Friday, Cheryl, 24, admitted she has known about Chelsea defender Ashley's boozy night with Aimee for six heart-breaking weeks.
He confessed to his wife just hours later and since then the couple, married just 18 months, have battled to save their relationship.
Ruin
Speaking from a secret location yesterday, with 27-year-old Ashley at her side and wedding ring still on her finger, she said: "I'm astonished that girl says she felt sorry for me.
"If she felt so sorry why did she run to the papers to try and ruin my marriage?
"I hope she's happy with her first designer handbag that she can buy with her dirty money.
"I've been through an emotional roller coaster but I'm determined to be strong. Ashley's a wonderful husband and we ARE in love. I won't let this woman destroy our marriage."
Eyes welling up with emotion, brave Cheryl revealed how Ashley broke down in tears when he returned home after his night with Aimee.
He'd gone out drinking in London with friends on December 8 then they all planned to watch boxer Ricky Hatton's world title fight on TV. Ashley was downing vodka cocktails in the CC club.
Cheryl recalled: "When Ashley returned in a state he told me these girls had been invited into the VIP area and then he got really, really drunk. That was totally out of character for him."
The pals invited the girls back to watch the boxing with them at a flat in Princess Park Manor, Friern Barnet, north London—the same complex where Ashley and Cheryl used to live.
On the journey he was violently sick. And when they arrived he was so drunk he had to go straight to bed. Hairdresser Aimee claimed she then had sex with Ashley—even though she admitted he was "swaying", "slurring his words" and "threw up everywhere" .
The single mum from Morden, south London, added that later she had sex with him before and after he "vomited on the floor, all over the cream carpet". But staunchly loyal wife Cheryl insisted yesterday: "That's utter rubbish, I know that for a FACT. I know Ashley intimately. When he's under the influence he ISN'T capable.
"When I heard what this girl had said I realised she'd made part of the story up. And, to be honest, that has helped me get through this.
"Obviously I felt sick to the stomach. What woman and wife wouldn't? And to be honest I felt humiliated and crushed that this girl was saying these things and people were believing it.
"Things were made worse when my family and friends started calling and offering support. I had to tell them that Ashley had told me about a drunken night and I'd kept it a secret for nearly two months.
"I'd only told my mum. I adore the girls from the band but I hadn't even told them. It was something that Ashley and I had to get through together.
"We've spent so much time together, talked and sorted things out. So I was devastated when this girl came up with all this and tried to make out it was something it wasn't."
Then courageous Cheryl relived that heartbreaking moment when the £90,000-a-week star returned to their £3.5 million home in Oxshott, Surrey, and collapsed in sobs.
SCENE OF SHAME: Flats where Cole spent night with Aimee
She said: "He told me, ‘Something happened last night but I was so drunk I don't know what,'"I was furious, furious that he didn't know what had gone on and that he'd put himself in that situation.
"All he could remember is his friends leaving him upstairs with this girl and him being so ill that he was sick and she was putting a bucket under his head, looking after him.
"His mates had said the girl was going into the kitchen and getting cloths to clean up because he was totally out of it. They were downstairs watching the fight and thought he'd be fine."
Incredibly, beautiful Cheryl kept her composure as she recalled her fury and added: "I saw the sick over Ashley's clothes, he was covered in it. I was fuming with his friends for not looking after him themselves.
"OK, Ashley was stupid to put himself in such a vulnerable and ridiculous position. But his friends should have protected him. I've seen with my own eyes the way women flirt and try it on with footballers.
"I was so angry, so frustrated that Ashley couldn't remember what on earth had gone on apart from him being sick."
That night feisty Cheryl made her disgraced husband sleep in a spare room. She said: "It was the worst night of my life. I was angry and I didn't know the full story of what happened.
"I've always said that if anything happened with another woman I would leave—and I knew I'd have to face up to that reality if he really had cheated.
"But the next day I calmed down a bit and then took a few more days to let what he'd said sink in. Ashley is not a big drinker, I knew that and I was shocked about the state he was in. It's so not like him. I never really thought it could be the end because we ARE married and I realised there's no point saying your vows then walking out on a whim."
But Cheryl admitted that for the first week she struggled to cope with what Ashley had told her.
AIMEE: Slammed by Cheryl She said: "I just couldn't believe that he couldn't remember anything. I asked, and asked, and asked but still he said he couldn't recall a thing that had gone on. He kept telling me he couldn't but I couldn't believe that.
"As Ashley rarely drinks and is usually so careful, I asked if he thought somebody had put something into one of his drinks. But he said he didn't know. It was like banging my head against a brick wall. I didn't want to eat or sleep, I just felt drained and hurt and scared."
But also in Cheryl's mind were the memories of her insisting to the media a year ago: "If anybody cheated on me they'd be dead. I've been cheated on in the past. I gave the blokes a few right and left hooks."
She told us: "I had to appreciate, and I DID appreciate, Ashley coming to me first and telling me about it.
"But it's fair to say we constantly rowed over the next few days.
"My mum Joan was there and I confided in her. She realised something serious was going on, she had never seen us rowing before.
"I knew that Ashley and I were going to be spending Christmas apart because he was playing football in London and I was in Newcastle.
"It was a horrible Christmas, it was so raw. But I had time to myself to think and I realised that the New Year was coming up and we could start afresh. I didn't want to carry the same argument into the New Year. I was 100 per cent over it.
Daft
"Obviously part of me was still angry and I won't take any s**t. Slowly things moved on and we got back to normal.
"We love each other, I adore Ashley and we spent time talking about things.
FIRST STEP TO SCANDAL: Club where Cole met girl "But then last week Ashley's agent got a call saying a girl was about to go to the papers saying she had a boozy night with Ashley. She didn't say she'd slept with him at that stage.
"I instantly thought it was just some daft girl saying something for money, I didn't put two and two together.
"Then at midnight on Thursday I got a call from my PR saying the girl HAD sold her story. And on Friday morning the penny dropped that it was the same girl from that night before Christmas.
"It made it worse when people claimed I'd kicked Ashley out. That just wasn't true.
"I'm still hurt and angry but we've been working things through since December and we're now hoping to move forward and rebuild our relationship. And I'm back at work with the band on Monday. I thought the whole matter was already dealt with and now this woman makes these claims. But I feel sorry for her that she had to go after a married man for her own financial gain.
"I know it must be hard being a single mum but that's no excuse to exploit Ashley and potentially ruin our marriage.
"I feel like I'm living in a nightmare and I don't know if people will allow me or Ashley to forget it. I hope they do. My friends have been brilliant. The girls from my band have all been so supportive.
"I don't want anybody to be angry with Ashley or to judge him—that's my job as his wife."
Cheryl and Ashley have neither asked for nor received any payment for their account.
