Cheryl Cole is content with no longer being in the public eye and is the ''happiest'' she has been for a ''long time''.
Cheryl Cole is the "happiest" she has been in a "long, long time".
The 27-year-old beauty - who was dropped from the US version of 'The X Factor' and replaced by Nicole Scherzinger last month - intends to take time out from showbiz and is enjoying the lack of pressure in her life to keep working.
Speaking through a friend, Cheryl told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "I'm under no pressure and I actually feel the happiest I've felt in a long, long time. I've got a big place, I have enough money - and if I never get photographed again, I don't care.
"I've always had people saying, 'We need to put an album out, we need to record it now' and, 'We have to rehearse for this tour and that tour' and, 'Now we need to do auditions for 'X Factor'.'
"I need to take a good few months off now - something I've never done before."
Cheryl - who in the last 18 months has dealt with the breakdown of her marriage to soccer star Ashley Cole and suffered with the potentially deadly infection malaria - is "not interested" in continuing a life of trying to "squeeze into tight dresses and fake tan".
A source added: "She's had enough of all the hustle, bustle, backbiting and bitching that goes with keeping up a career in showbiz - especially in America.
"She's learned in the most severe way how cruel and demoralising the industry can be. Her whole life has been spent squeezing into tiny dresses and fake tan but she's just not interested any more. All she ever wanted was to be a singer."
The Pussycat Dolls singer has been dating the British Formula One ace for nearly three years, but they have reportedly not seen each other in three weeks and shelved plans to spend Christmas together.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Lewis and Nicole have had a few problems for a while now. They love each other dearly but have incredibly busy schedules.
"Nicole was in London last week and was desperate to hook up with Lewis but she was busy in the studio while he is on a European training camp and couldn't come back.
Lewis and Nicole have had a few problems for a while now. They love each other dearly but have incredibly busy schedules.
"Hopefully after a month apart, they will come to their senses and give things another go."
Despite the claims, a spokesperson for Lewis insisted the couple are "perfectly fine".
Meanwhile, Nicole recorded the theme song to forthcoming musical 'Love Never Dies' - the sequel to the hugely popular 'Phantom of the Opera', by composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber - while in London.
A source said: "Andrew is a huge fan of Nicole and her voice. He has always said she could become one of the biggest stars on the planet with the right songs."
American pop girls group The Pussycat Dolls has called it a day, amid jealous rows over the rising profile of lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, girlfriend of British motor racing ace Lewis Hamilton.
Band member Kimberly Wyatt confirmed Saturday that the group were taking a long break to consider their future, fuelling speculation that it's all over for the band who formed in LA in 2003, reports mirror.co.uk.
"The girls and I have just finished our huge world tour and are taking a break from the band and doing our own thing... We're all concentrating on our own projects and deciding what the future will hold," said Wyatt.
Rumours are rife that tensions have been mounting in the Pussycat camp for several months. The five-member ensemble has been divided by jealousy over the star treatment being meted out to their lead singer.
Earlier this year Scherzinger, 31, was singled out for special mention on the group's "Slumdog Millionaire" single "Jai jo", which was billed as The Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger.
Nicole Scherzinger plans to raise her family in Switzerland and America.
The Pussycat Dolls star's boyfriend, motor racing star Lewis Hamilton, currently lives in Geneva while she resides in Los Angeles and they will continue to divide their time between continents even when they have children.
My girlfriend lives in LA, so it will probably be split between there and here
Lewis said: "Geneva is a beautiful city. I like Monte Carlo, but I prefer this. I've lived here for two years and think my home will be here and the States in the future. My girlfriend lives in LA, so it will probably be split between there and here. This is a great place to raise a family."
Lewis also revealed the couple constantly send each other picture messages on their mobile phones to help cope with lengthy periods apart.
He said: "I take pictures of everything in my life and I have a very long distance relationship, so it's how I communicate."
