Cheryl Cole’s anti-bullying message: ‘You can’t call someone who’s a size 6 fat’

I haven’t been paying too much attention to poor Cheryl Cole since her frenemy Simon Cowell unceremoniously dumped her from the American version of The X-Factor last year. Cheryl might not have “made it” in America, but she’s still a big celebrity in the UK, and there’s some interest in her in other countries too – she’s probably a C-lister in most places, but an A-minus in England. She still makes magazine covers consistently in the UK too – and here she covers the December issue of Glamour UK. I like the photo shoot a lot – Cheryl works well when she’s styled as more of “girl next door” rather than “leather-clad bombshell”. I do think she’s incredibly pretty. Anyway, in her Glamour interview, Cheryl discusses body image, love, dating and her ex-husband Ashley Cole (who cheated on her all the time). Some highlights:

Being bullied for her weight: “You can’t call someone who’s a size 6 fat. An average woman is a size 10 to 12, so if you’re calling me fat because I’m a size 6, and I have never ever been bigger than an 8, you’re causing women some serious issues. When you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s nothing short of bullying in the workplace.”

On her divorce, and her cheating ex-husband: “I’m not unlucky in love or anything else. And I’m absolutely not a victim. I’m strong, happy and settled — and I really don’t give a s–t anymore. It takes a long time after you’ve been with someone as long as I was not to feel like you’re cheating on them. That may sound crazy, but it’s the way I felt after him. I had completely committed myself.”

She’s currently dating a backup dancer named Tre Holloway: “Dating someone who’s not in the industry can be difficult, but dating someone in the limelight has its own problems. Everything is intensified. If I fell in love with a [garbage man] I’d be happy. but if I fell in love some really famous man, I feel like that would belong to the media.”

[From Glamour UK via Us Weekly]

If that’s the way she wants to play her divorce and her new relationship, I don’t really have any problems with that. Her marriage was a disaster, and Ashley Cole really did seem like a compulsive womanizer, so it probably did take her a while to get over that crap. But I don’t like the way she frames the body image issue. Yes, she’s been “bullied” about her weight, even though she’s always been a small woman, which is just further evidence that there will always be someone out there somewhere who thinks that you look “fat.” But instead of framing it as “no one should be bullied for their weight, ever, what a terrible thing to do,” Cheryl is basically saying that SHE alone doesn’t deserve to be bullied because she has a smaller-than-average body – she doesn’t deserve it because there are other women, bigger women, who deserve it.

Photos courtesy of Glamour UK.

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37 Responses to “Cheryl Cole’s anti-bullying message: ‘You can’t call someone who’s a size 6 fat’”

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  1. Spif says:

    Why is her name still Cole???

    • Amelia says:

      Because she’s a violent, foul-mouthed little madam who is still trying to ride the coat tails of her ex-husband.
      Please Kaiser, do NOT give this woman coverage.
      This is the woman who defended Chris Brown and rather fittingly has an assault conviction herself.
      I’d say she’s more B/C list now in the UK. People are rapidly going off her.

    • karley says:

      Bc She’s more known as Cheryl Cole?

      • SusieQ says:

        Yup, ‘Cheryl Tweedy’ probably doesn’t sound show-bizzy enough in the showbiz world.

      • Christina says:

        That always makes me laugh. I mean, she’s basically making a career out of slagging off her ex-husband, and yet she keeps his name, even though they’ve been divorced for a few years now?

        If I were him, I wouldn’t be too happy about my ex holding on to my name. Ashley may not be the classiest guy around, but unlike Cheryl, he has a genuine talent.

        BTW assuming she’s using UK (not US) dress sizes, she’s simply wrong to say that the ‘average size’ is a 10 or a 12. The average size is more like a 14, if not larger.

  2. lucy2 says:

    I still don’t know who she is, but totally agree that her message is coming out “don’t bully ME” rather than “don’t bully anyone”.

  3. Amy625 says:

    I didn’t read it at all that she thinks larger women should be bullied. I think she was just talking about herself and her circumstances.

    • EmmaStoneWannabe says:

      Agree. I think she was just trying to make a statement about size 6-8 women in general.

  4. RuddyZooKeeper says:

    Of course anyone can call a girl who’s a size six fat. And they can call a pretty girl ugly, a responsible man lazy, and a smart kid stupid. It’s what mean people do when they want to hurt your feelings! But instead of looking around the room to judge for yourself who the idiots should have picked on first, you have to decide that what mean people say doesn’t dictate how you view or value yourself! You can’t control what other people will say, but at least keep some control over how you choose to view yourself!

  5. daz says:

    Ashley cole can be seen crossing his finger in their crappy wedding photo. Shows you what he thought of their vows.

  6. gigi says:

    Isn’t this the same tramp who beat up a woman to pulps and used a racial slur in a bathroom stall or something? Yet she is spreading an anti bullying message? I hate her fake goody two-shoes act . Wish she would crawl up somewhere and disappear. Glad Simone gave her the boot.

  7. valleymiss says:

    I took what she said about bullying in the same way. It’s almost like she’s implying that bullies should save their fat remarks for those *who are actually fat.*

  8. SusieQ says:

    Apart from her nose, she looks like Roselyn Sanchez in that last picture.

  9. Jess says:

    Can I make a comment on these budget looking Glamour Shots? They didn’t even try. It’s like she was posing for the Sears catalogue.

  10. MitzieMartin says:

    She beat up a black toilet attendant and it was classed as a racial attack then oh how can I be racist when I married a black man card popped up, she is vile, I cannot stand her, my favourite you tube at the moment is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awCIIsxFoJo&feature=relmfu Cheryl is whisper miming and her backing track has failed, hilarious

    • Korel says:

      Yep, this hamster faced good for nothing and her non singing ass needs to just have a seat. Maybe she should talk about bullying to the lady she beat up?

    • RN says:

      I watched the video (not all of it – it was horrible). Is she supposed to be a singer? How come I couldn’t hear her sing? I don’t know anything about this woman.

  11. Chickie Baby says:

    “You can’t call someone who’s a size 6 fat.” Way to take a stand there, missy. That’s not exactly the most productive way of stating the problem.

    And yes, it HAS happened. Remember the Jennifer Love Hewitt debacle? Unflattering pictures = instant fat-labeling by the media and everyone else, no matter what size she was.

    And if you’re a size six, shut up about it. Find something else to talk about that actually deals with the bullying issue. Not all of us are size sixes, and really get tired of those who are continually talking about it.

    • Ashley says:

      My thoughts exactly! I’m tired of average-sized celebrities acting like they’re victims to weight bullying. I honestly don’t think a lot of people think she’s fat. It’s the same thing with Jennifer Lawrence. Yes, you’re not skinny, but you’re not obese either, and you know it! It’s sad that we live in such a f*cked up society, where skinny’s not normal, fat’s not normal, and being an average weight isn’t normal anymore. Well what the hell IS normal!??? I’d like to know!! I’m 22, I weigh 95 pounds and I think all different kinds of women are beautiful. It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight or underweight, what matters is how you carry yourself, and too often today women in the limelight like to bring up their weight like they’re apart of some “body revolution”. Seems a little self-righteous to me.

  12. Susie Q says:

    Hmm, I see another Susie Q here, never noticed another before..I just wanted to say she should be saying that you shouldn’t be calling ANYONE fat.

  13. Christina says:

    Is there ANY celeb out there who doesn’t claim to have been ‘bullied’ for their weight or appearance?

    I mean – just about every kid alive gets called names or teased from time to time. It’s part of growing up, but shouldn’t be confused with genuine bullying, which can be devastating. It’s all so narcissistic, and is getting very old.

    A bit like Cheryl. Not chronologically old, of course, but old in the sense that she’s got nothing new to offer. She should just go away and count herself lucky to have got so far on so little talent.

    • Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

      Ugh, I know. Every single celebrity was bullied, dateless, a dork, homely, scrawny and they used to cry, cry, cry…waahhhh the fuck up!

      I hate it when famous women try to pull this cynical everywoman bullshit, how stupid do they think people are, and how insulting is it that they’re catering to the boundless self-hatred that ALL women have (presumably)?

      ‘How couldn’t the nobodies hate themselves when they’re not on magazines reminding everyone that they’re not what they are? If they were somebodies clearly their faces would be here, as is mine today. Let a designated somebody show you the path. Why wouldn’t people with their own immediate lives and problems want to hear about all my suffering about which I have constantly blather decades after the fact? I always care when little people want to bend my ear for a moment and I listen to them for free, so in the spirit of reciprocity, HEAR ME NOW!

      Actually, since it’s my job to be wanted in all capacities, all of your exposure to me is a journey with an expert, so my paid advice is my gift to you. You don’t really have that power, so your unsolicited ramblings are really taxing on us perfection experts, so mere exposure to your amateurishness is dangerous, but we do it because we’re equals.

      I’m a model, so I know all about the despair one can feel when people ignore you or make you feel like you don’t matter because no one ever says you’re beautiful. Who knows more about inner beauty than me? Inner beauty is that fallback thing you use as a cold comfort when no one wants you, right? No, that not my opinion you silly media outlet, that was an, um, oxymantra, do you get how it’s spiritual and how I’m exposing our…Challenging the nonsense of social mores, and, negate, thuswise…denominator? Beauty is beauty, yours is just the non-lucrative kind of beauty, but hey lucky, that’s my spiritual specialty since superficial pursuits are the deepest ones. My reaching out says that I’m two kinds of beautiful when you’re only the one kind. Wait, I mean, I’m so gross, right? You’re the one whose *choke* ‘Real Cute’.

      Isn’t is awful how the industry that pays me astronomical amounts of money to tell you that you’re ugly keeps telling you that you’re ugly? Look, I get the ache, I’m white, thin (but not in my boobs–THOSE are fat and it’s totes discrimination– attractive, desired by all throughout history and legacy and immediate circumstances, pampered, endlessly rewarded and also well-heeled. It’s an airplane hangar of wall-to-wall misery, so I’m holding your hand (don’t touch me, goblin) in solidarity. We’re on the same page: that’s my likeness beside the caption that extols my my myriad form of superiority and there’s your name on the subscription sticker. ‘There were never such devoted sisters!’

      I can suck up to the fatties and the uggos and the low-rent nobodies by saying that I was once a part of their tribe so they’ll adequately worship me now. My success can be ‘our’ victory and I can give them hope that one day they’ll evolve into actual people who can be loved and admired. It’s a good marketing tactic. Of course, I know that you’re all fundamentally repulsive and have no other characteristics but that so pretending that I was once repulsive is the only way that I can connect and compare myself to my target demographic. Super-easy because they’re gross and nothing more and that takes the burden of learning how to lie about reality down to manageable amount of toil for me. Plastic surgery, gosh, I’d never hit the blade–I never said that, toxins are empowering, that’s why I only tried parallox once, as an experiment. Free the Dove Soap Two!’

      So you know, shut the hell up, Kate Winslet.

      • Annelise says:

        “How insulting is it that they’re catering to the boundless self-hatred that ALL women have (presumably)?”

        Perfect. Thank you for calling out the problem that these types of celebrity statements perpetuate. Let’s not forget that the “self-hatred” women all presumably have is directly related to the beauty standards created by the advertising industry. Ads specifically attempt to convince women that they’re imperfect, ugly, flawed, etc, as they are. BUT if they buy whatever magical beauty/feminine hygiene product the ad is hawking, they will be “normal” and desirable.

  14. DreamyK says:

    Well, Cheryl, here’s the problem: these ladies that are a size *6* are shopping at stores that have unmarked sizes on them or are labeled incorrectly (a size 6 in a boutique store could be a size 10 in a non-celebrity store).

    In fact, there are even assistants whose job description includes changing the labels size or removing them all together.

    So pardon all of us who call shenanigans on these women who claim to be a size 2,4,6 when they are clearly not.

  15. Sophia says:

    Please stop writing about her. I just…ugh! She’s not only an untalented, self-righteous, common little madam who gets by solely on her looks – she’s also boring and very vapid. Hopefully, when her looks fade, she’ll bow out of the limelight and shrink into oblivion. Our Nation’s Sweetheart?! Pfffffftttt! I have to go take my meds now!

  16. hmm says:

    I hate how analog cameras are treated as novelties nowadays… Even worse when they are used as “props” for dumb models who do not even realize that what they’re holding is not digital… No you can’t see the picture on the back, stupid, because it uses a magical thing called film…

  17. Loolar says:

    I’ve never commented on here before after years of reading this blog but really really had to after reading this. Cheryl Cole is horrid and very talentless and is now hopefully on the downward swing of her fame. I’m from the UK and she is NOT an A- at all maybe a B at one time (aspiring to A) but now slip slipping to the Cs.

  18. violelia says:

    I dislike her a lot.

  19. dh says:

    “you cant call me fat cause Im a size 6” everyone else who is bigger- you can call them fat, its ok then.

  20. fran says:

    this should be mentioned in the article that a UK 6 is a size 2 in the US. its like ok girl im sorry people called you “fat” just for mean spirits im sure, but at the end of the day your fitting into sample sizes for all your covers. i would never complain!

  21. Latoya says:

    Think she was just trying to point out how screwed up people’s ideas of weight are.

    She’s just saying she’s well below average but is considered ‘fat’ and that it must be really screwing up people’s ideas of what’s “normal”.

    Surprised no Americans jumped on the size 6 comments, think size 6 is maybe your size 2?