Cheryl Cole: "Will.i.am Convinced Me To Go Solo"

7 June 2012, 10:21 | Updated: 7 June 2012, 10:28

The '3 Words' star admits she was ready to start a family when the Black Eyed Peas man persuaded her to go it alone.

Cheryl Cole has confessed that she was convinced to go solo by Will.i.am.

The 'Call My Name' star told Popjustice that when Girls Aloud went on hiatus she was thinking of starting a family before The Voice UK coach persuaded her to turn her attentions towards a solo record.

"It was actually him that convinced me to do a solo record," she admitted. "I never would have done a solo record without him.

"Well at the time, I would have had a family. At the time I was still married. But it was actually Will saying to us, 'you know you're going to do a solo record, right?', and I was saying, 'I don't want to, not yet'.

"And he was like, 'I think you should. You need to'. He said, 'I'm excited, I want to be involved with it'. So he was involved from day one. I recorded my first-ever solo song with Will."

The Black Eyed Peas man is currently the former X Factor star's manager and was heavily involved in the recording of her new studio album 'A Million Lights' which will be released on 18th June.

Meanwhile, the Girls Aloud star was amongst the performers at the special Diamond Jubilee Concert for the Queen and was pictured meeting the Royal following her performance with Take That star Gary Barlow at the event.