Cheryl has admitted she found her and Liam Payne’s break-up statement "cringeworthy".
The ‘Only Human’ singer and the One Direction singer – who have 15-month-old son Bear together – announced they had made the "tough decision" to end their two-year romance earlier this month but said they still "have so much love for each other as a family".
The statement was criticised by ‘Good Morning Britain’ host Piera Morgan, who said: "It’s always weird when celebrity couples split up saying they have so much love for each other.
"If they love each other that much, why are they splitting up? They should be more honest and just say, ‘We hate each other.’ "
And the presenter was shocked to receive a text message response from the 35-year-old pop star afterwards, who insisted she doesn’t "hate" the 25-year-old hunk but admitted the message was "cringeworthy".
Piers recounted: "When we came off air, Cheryl texted me: ‘I’m so sorry you didn’t like my statement, Piers – perhaps I should have texted you the intimate details in chronological order as it unfolded.’
"We’ve always got on well, so I felt a sudden rare pang of guilt that I’d been a bit harsh on her. ‘Sorry,’ I replied, ‘I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.’ Of course, this was completely disingenuous – I meant it exactly the way it sounded.
"Fortunately, Cheryl quickly eased my concern: ‘I’m just messing. I hate those kinds of statements too, so cringeworthy. But we don’t hate each other. It just didn’t work out."
The pair later met up at Simon Cowell’s annual summer party On July 9 – where the music mogul admitted he hadn’t expected Cheryl and Liam to last until the end of the month.
In his column for Event magazine, Piers wrote: "Our host, naturally, was full of warm, kind empathy for Cheryl’s new single status.
"’I had a bet on you splitting up from Liam before England were knocked out of the World Cup,’ he told her. ‘It’s coming home!’
"’You cheeky b*****d’, retorted Cheryl, slapping him on the shoulder."
Despite the end of her relationship, the former Girls Aloud star didn’t seem too upset.
Piers wrote: "’Need a shoulder to cry on?’ I suggested.
" ‘I won’t be doing any crying, Piers,’ she replied, ‘and even if I did, yours would be the last shoulder I’d do it on.’ "
Cheryl’s ‘cringeworthy’ statement
