Cheryl has opened up about motherhood as she prepares to return to the X Factor as a guest judge at Simon Cowell's home in Nice.
X Factor judge Cheryl has said she “hated” pregnancy, but that motherhood has been an “amazing” life-changing experience.
The former Girls Aloud star, 34, and her partner Liam Payne, 24, welcomed their first child together, son Bear, in March.
Cheryl told The Sun newspaper: “I hated being pregnant. A lot of stuff went on and I just didn’t enjoy it.”
But, on being a mother, she said: “It changes your life completely but in the most amazing way.
“But I’ve had the best six months of my life. Really.”
Cheryl has returned to the spotlight following her recent break from public life, and is returning to The X Factor – on which she was previously a judge – as a guest.
She will join the show’s boss, Simon Cowell, at his home in Nice, France, as guest judge to help him narrow down contestants for the ITV programme.
Having found fame on TV reality competition Popstars: The Rivals, which led to her being in pop group Girls Aloud, Cheryl said her life had been a “roller coaster”.
She said: “I didn’t stop for 14 years — literally on the roller coaster.
“And then when I got pregnant I thought, ‘Right, I just don’t need this stress’. So I relaxed.
“It’s been actually over a year but it’s been perfect for me because it’s reset the mind-frame. And I feel actually better coming back.
“I feel more relaxed, I just feel I’ve sat into my own skin. I feel so good.”
Payne and Cheryl first met on The X Factor in 2008 when he auditioned as a solo contestant, two years before becoming part of the hit boyband One Direction on the programme.
Asked how they decided on the name for their firstborn – which took several weeks to come up with – Cheryl joked that Bear stood for “unbearable”.
She added that she had “always loved the name” and that when her son was a new-born, he used to “grunt”, and the nickname was given to him by a midwife.
The X Factor continues on Saturday at 8:20pm.
