Fully agree with everything - I definitely see it as either being a transactional deal between him & Cheryl or an older wiser woman manipulating a situation and young impressionable guy because she was desperate for a baby.
Never sat right with me either, had she met him for first time when he was 20+ and her 30+ then it would be different, I personally still wouldn't go there myself but it wouldn't be too bad of a situationship or relationship in those circumstances. But the fact she met him at 14, contrary to what people say about her having nothing to do with him again until they together when he was 21/22, she did in fact have plenty to do with him throughout the years - his 1st time on XFactor he made it to judges house so she would have seen him around the studios. 2nd XFactor stint he was only 16 and was put in 1D and made it to live shows and age definitely had plenty to do with him & the whole band throughout the show, she even mentored them for 1-2 weeks while Simon was ill. She then met them on & off throughout the years. In 2013/14 Liam remixed some songs on her album so they spent time together in LA studios, he was under DJ Payno and he is credited on some of her songs for her album. He was the 1st person she nominated for ice bucket challenge (I think she'd met and just married the french guy & Liam was with Sophia as he then nominated her for the challenge) so Cheryl clearly had more to do in his life than just meeting him at 14, 16 then again at 21 when they started dating. I don't think she was a groomer in the Philip Schofield sense, I really don't think she saw him at 14 & 16 and had any feelings towards him then in anyway other than thinking he was cute & another Bieber. She was with Ashley those times. She had the sense & knowledge to know what Liam was going through with the band break up, he was known to have anxiety etc issues and alcohol issues and I think given the age difference and power imbalance as she had lived her solo career, TV career etc over him who was just restarting over again she should have had the common sense to not have a baby with him but I think selfishly she didn't think and just wanted to finally be a mum. What better guy to choose than him - easily manipulated, easily bossed and super rich & famous so she and their child would be set up for life and she could also maintain some form of celebrity life being forever linked to a 1D member. All those saying she has her own money - yes she does but no where in the region of what is said = £40mil, no chance. She was 1/5 of a girlband popular in UK only, they aren't really popular outside of uk. Never wrote their own songs (where the money is made, singing a song doesn't earn much, it's the writing & producing that earns the money), her L'Oréal & XFactor stints would bring in money but the magazine deals of the 90s/early 2000s dropped dramatically as social media became more prominent so the likes of her, other wags, Kerry K & Katie p were no longer earning 1mil a hello/ok spread. If Liam died leaving only £24mil despite 1D fame worldwide & being a writer of their songs plus being merchandised into every item possible and the royalties there is no way Cheryl has £40mil in assets, it probably won't even be 10mil. She will have a few million but no way near as much as people think. Her fame & marketability is dwindling, XFactor was going downhill and the celeb world is unkind to women ageing so she would not make much in future, having a baby with Liam has secured her & her mum's futures. Otherwise she would have had a baby with the 2nd husband, they were married and even if they split after the baby it wouldve been a better story for her image than to leave hubby no 2 and take up with a 11yrs her junior boybander she first met when he was only 14. But then the 2nd hubby wouldn't have let her control the parenting of their child, pretty sure he would've took her to court for 50/50 custody. There's a reason she didn't have her longed for baby with any of her exes who were more assertive and instead fell pregnant with Liam within months of dating.
I think she would have eventually left Ashley as she had her pride and he'd humiliated her too much. She was presented as a strong feisty independent woman so to continue staying with him would have ruined her image and I think she really micro-manages her image and controls it very fiercely. Had he not humiliated her so much I think she would have stayed & had a few babies with him. I think she loved him and the potential of being next posh & Becks, the wag lifestyle although I don't think she would have paraded any Cole babies publicly the way the Beckham's do, I think she would have kept the children private, although I don't think she have kept them as hidden away as she does Bear. I do wonder if her talking about IVF siblings for bear before COVID happened was her hoping to have Liam being part of it so bear had full siblings and I wonder if he said no and that's part of the reason she hasn't gone down the IVF sperm donor route, as it would be awkward to have bear who has a famous dad who supports him financially then have 1-2 more children via sperm bank who wouldn't have a dad supporting them financially or visiting them.
My friend has sent me a screenshot that shows Liam's probate administration file as registered in Newcastle. Wonder why she's using there to register when she's lived in bucks all of bears life? As much as she's bears mum I do wish his family had more input in it and registering instead as they helped support him his whole life & deeply cared for him his whole life. She should have some say and control over the protection of bears trust fund but for her to have all control and register in Newcastle instead of bucks or Wolverhampton seems odd.
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please don't tell me you don't know who that is! 
