Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has lived under constant scrutiny ever since launching her career in a girl band, something that has only been exacerbated by the advent of social media.
A tabloid favourite despite hardly drinking and eschewing celebrity parties, the attention she receives ensure trolls never veer far from her accounts.
Fernandez-Versini’s name has been in the press increasingly after her relationship with Liam Payne became the subject of a Sun article. While normally extremely private, she has responded by appearing openly with the One Direction singer in public and both have shared pictures together on Instagram.
Fernandez-Versini, 32, has responded angrily on a number of occasions to reports targeting her appearance, body shaming trolls and criticism about her life in posts to her 2.3 million followers.
On Thursday, she urged women to empower one and other by choosing to stand together and empower each other instead of attacking each other. In her Instagram post, she described how hard being a woman can truly be, especially when women “pull others down”. Her message is all the more pertinent since being targeted even more viciously by trolls after her relationship with Payne, 22, came to light.
“It can be so hard at times being a girl, for sooo many reasons!,” she wrote. “But we don't have to make it harder for each other.. Why do we still feel the need to do that?? I don't understand it. I have always been a girls girl, and love other strong women. That is why I surround myself with them, and that is why I try to empower others.
"Trying to pull another person down, only speaks volumes about your character! And not a thing about theirs. There's nothing more powerful or beautiful than an inspiring, strong women that you can look up to or turn to. Be one!”
