Speaking to Elle magazine, Cheryl admits that she went through a sort of nervous break down during the difficult time, and that she completely lost herself.
'I'd look in a mirror and think: "Who the hell is she?"'
'Something was seriously wrong - it felt like a nervous breakdown. I had to stop, get out of my life I'd been living and find myself again.'
'I thought I had every box ticked, career and personal. I was the first to get married. I was the one everyone thought would be the first to have a baby. And then the rug got pulled out from under me.'
But despite being ditched by Simon Cowell, Cheryl said she's only now able to talk about it because she accepts the media mogul made the right decision.
'I wasn't well in the head when that was going on, so it wasn't going to work.'
However, the Geordie star added she did think she had a right to be told to her face, after being passed the message that she would no longer be needed on the US show.
'I thought I had every box ticked, career and personal. I was the first to get married. I was the one everyone thought would be the first to have a baby. And then the rug got pulled out from under me.'
Luckily, the brunette beauty came through the other side of 2013 a stronger and happier woman, adding that she feels the hard times taught her everything she needs to know to survive, including that 'good women at your side' are invaluable.