They’re in the midst of a comeback tour – but last week, Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts had more to smile about as she proudly showed off her new diamond ring to fans, seemingly confirming her engagement to partner Mitch Hahn.
Her bandmates looked on happily, and insiders say that Nicola’s best pal Cheryl, 41, couldn’t be more elated for her.
“Cheryl’s over the moon for Nicola,” a source says. “It means the world to her to see her best friend happy, especially after she has had so much heartache in the past. She adores Mitch and knows how long Nicola has waited for this.
“She can’t wait for all the wedding planning, the bridesmaid dress shopping, everything! It’s going to be such a magical chapter of their lives and she can’t wait to celebrate."
According to reports, Nicola’s partner, businessman and semi-pro footballer Mitch, 36, got down on one knee during a recent romantic getaway in the south of France, two years after they started dating. Prior to that Nicola, 38, had been through a traumatic break-up when her ex Carl Davies was convicted for stalking her in 2022.
Meanwhile Nicola and Cheryl have been friends since Girls Aloud formed on Popstars: The Rivals 22 years ago – with Nicola being a bridesmaid at Cheryl’s wedding to Ashley Cole in 2006. Following her divorce from Ashley – who the singer split from after cheating rumours swirled – Cheryl dated dancers Derek Hough and Tre Holloway, before marrying French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2014 after a whirlwind three-month romance. Her relationship with Liam Payne, who she’d first met on The X Factor, followed. The couple welcomed their son, Bear, seven, together in 2017, but split just a year after.
Following her break-up from Liam, 30, Cheryl wasn’t so positive about finding romance again. In a 2018 interview following their split, she said, “In business I know what I want, but in my romantic area I’m not as evolved – that area has stopped.”
And the source now says that Cheryl’s past, with her heartbreak and divorces, made her feel slightly conflicted at first, saying, “When Cheryl heard the news, while of course she was thrilled for Nicola, there was a tiny hint of bittersweetness to the whole thing though for Cheryl, given her own failed marriages and how she looks back on her own weddings with mixed emotions. But like Cheryl, she’s been through her fair share of heartache over the years and Cheryl is so happy to watch Nicola finally be in a relationship with a man who not only loves and adores her, but who makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.”
The Geordie singer – who has been fiercely private with Bear but took him out on stage with Girls Aloud for the first time during their Sheffield gig last month – has previously said that her son is the only love she needs in her life, saying, “My heart’s full, I’m fulfilled. I’m not looking for anything any more. I’m whole. I’ve got the man of my dreams.”
But earlier this year, Closer reported that, while on her reunion tour with Girls Aloud, Cheryl had grown close to one of the men working behind the scenes – something which, whether it gets more serious or not, has made her “excited” about dating again.
The source adds, “Cheryl has got to a place where she’s content with her life and the love of her life is and always will be her son. But after years of healing from heartache, she’s feeling ready to let someone else in now and feels like she does deserve her happy ending after all.
“Nicola’s engagement has reconfirmed her own faith in finding love, after wavering multiple times and having moments where she feels like it may never happen. Nicola and Mitch have made her feel excited for her own future again.”
