Ashley Cole's ex-wife, Cheryl, opens up on how devastated she was after the collapse of her marriage to him

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has revealed the collapse of her marriage to Ashley Cole left her on the verge of a mental breakdown.

The pop star, 31, opened up about the demons she suffered after her split from the philandering footballer, which left her feeling ‘horribly numb’ and seeking medical help.

‘I was borderline. I was walking crazyville. I had no fire in me belly. I didn’t feel passionate any more, just a bit dead. Getting out of bed was difficult,’ she told The Times Magazine.

The singer – who married French restaurant tycoon Jean-Bernard Fernandez Versini in secret a fortnight ago – added: ‘I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat properly. Trying to go to sleep, and suddenly when you’re sleeping, the world gets loud.’

The Geordie singer has taken two years away from the limelight to put her life back on track, and says she is now ‘so over it’ and looking ahead to a huge comeback.

She added: ‘You know what I also realised these past years? I refuse to let somebody else’s s***** behaviour change me fundamentally.

‘Because you treat me like s***, I’m not going to become bitter and twisted. I’m going to remain the person I am, with the values and beliefs that I had, and let you deal with your s***.’

Fernandez-Versini has released a new single, Crazy Stupid Love, and is also set to rejoin The X Factor as a judge for the first time since she was unceremoniously sacked from the US version of the show by Simon Cowell in 2010.