Once Tweedy, then Cole and now just wishing to be known as plain ole 'Cheryl', the diminutive Geordie singer is set to release her third album, A Million Lights, on Monday. To accompany the new record, Cheryl is embarking on a UK arena tour that culminates in a hometoon show on 17th October.

The new record and inevitably quick-selling tour will do much to bolster what is turning into something of a comeback for Cheryl, following a period of flagging success and some rotten luck. It was back in 2010 that she released her second record, Messy Little Raindrops. It would be the last occasion she would make the headlines for musical reasons for some time. After a messy little divorce, Cheryl then suffered the ignominy of being cast then dramatically dropped from X Factor USA.

She was unwillingly paraded in the redtops, bitched about, derided and mocked for her (lovely) accent, her occasionally audacious fashion statements and her 'inability to hold down a man' (an alleged adulterer, let's not forget). Wee Cheryl took the lot with a quiet, albeit shocked, dignity.

Free of Cowell's puppet strings, the new record is released on Fascination (a Universal label) and coincides with Cheryl dropping 'Cole' from her stage name and appearing to bite back (in recent interviews) at the horrendous tabloid smears and intrusion she has suffered in recent times. The fact that she was a guilty party in a washroom fracas nine years ago surely does not qualify her as 'fair game' for a decade of snipes and character assassination.

Cheryl will begin her A Million Lights tour in Nottingham on 6th October, followed by huge shows in London (at The O2), Manchester and more before the final show announced so far at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on 17th October 2012. We will have tickets available from 9am on Friday 15th June, priced from £35.

Sales are expected to be very brisk as Cheryl continues her renaissance. Good luck pet.