Singer Cheryl has said she will move on with her life if her music fails to perform well in the charts, for the sake of her son.
The former Girls Aloud star, whose comeback single Love Made Me Do It debuted at 19 in the Official Singles Charts this week, also said she is a different person since becoming a parent last year.
In an interview given before the latest chart update, Cheryl told the Guardian Guide of her new single: “If it goes in at 80, it’s time for me to move on with my life.
“I’m not going to jump around working hard and spending time away from my son for that.”
In tomorrow's Guide: 'If I’m not happy with something, and I’m not comfortable, I’m not f**king doing it' – @Popjustice meets a resurgent @CherylOfficial pic.twitter.com/cgOvbxyPBg
— The Guardian Guide (@guideguardian) November 16, 2018
She added, of the opportunity and cost of a music career: “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
Cheryl, who rose to fame in the girl group after winning Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, and who has gone on to achieve success as a solo artist, released her new track last week, her first new music in nearly four years.
Despite it only entering the charts at 19 it was this week’s highest new entry, according to the Official Charts Company.
She said she is a “new person”, and added: “I’d never want to be in my 20s again.
“My life since the baby, and my life prior to the baby… they’re two different people, in the best possible way.”
Cheryl, 35, and ex-partner Liam Payne, 25, became first-time parents in March last year, and she is happy to keep son Bear away from the limelight and social media.
Thank you @arjanwrites @beats1 for making #LoveMadeMeDoIt your #BopOfTheWeek. So excited! Listen to the interview now 📲 https://t.co/OaiLXLLiNs. #AListPopLive pic.twitter.com/yp6qd0k3OU
— Cheryl (@CherylOfficial) November 16, 2018
She said: “I’m not going to take his childhood away from him and expose him like that! It’s not my decision to make.
“And there’s trolls everywhere. For someone to make time to go on my page and write something shitty, they’ve got to have a pretty sad life. At the end of the day, I think trolls are just confused fans.”
The singer and TV star told the interviewer that accusations against her of a racially aggravated assault in 2003 were “irrelevant”.
Cheryl was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after attacking a toilet attendant in a Surrey nightclub, but the racially aggravated charges were dropped.
She said it was “not news” and the topic is “boring”, adding: “I don’t understand why you’d even bring it up.”