Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Cheryl Cole: I could have taken heroin if I'd wanted to

Singer says many of her friend were addicts

The emotional rollercoaster of being judge is taking its toll

Cheryl Cole's friend died of of an overdose

Cheryl Cole has admitted that drugs were readily available to her when she was younger.

The Girls Aloud star - who rose to fame 6 years ago - grew up on a council estate in Heaton, Newcastle.

And she says she was surrounded by teenagers hooked on narcotics.

‘There were lots of users in my area,’ she reveals. ‘Heroin was there for the taking, I could easily have taken that route if I’d wanted to. But I always maintained my ambition and I’m proud of myself.’

Cheryl's close pal John Courtney died after an overdose 3 years ago, his body covered in track marks.

‘It put me off for life,’ she admits in Cheryl Cole: Her Story – The Unauthorised Biography.

‘The nightmare devastated all John’s family. Seeing him in a coffin was terrible. And to see pictures of [Pete] Doherty glamorising the habit, and with Kate Moss on his arm, too. It makes me sick.’

Cheryl, 25, is currently a judge on ITV show The X Factor.