Cheryl divorce: Sarah Harding says Girls Aloud bandmate will 'bounce back' from divorce

Sarah Harding has said that former Girls Aloud bandmate Cheryl Fernandez-Versini will "bounce back" following the reported split from her husband Jean Bernard. The 34-year-old was appearing on ITV's Loose Women when she offered her insight into her former bandmate's marriage woes.

Speaking to the Loose Women hosts she revealed she had got in touch with Cheryl on hearing news of the couple's rumoured divorce. "I dropped her a text, but Cheryl's a strong girl and she'll bounce back - she always does." Describing Jean Bernard she added: "I met him a couple of years ago on Xtra Factor, when I did that. He seemed nice enough, but I didn't know them very well as a couple. Although he was always there ..."

Harding's comments come just days after reports surfaced that The X Factor judge had filed for divorce from her husband of 19 months.

On January 9, the Sunday Mirror reported that the 32-year-old singer has begun formal legal proceedings by filing paperwork, citing "irreconcilable differences" and "unreasonable behavior" as the reason for the split. The newspaper claimed the couple secretly split five months ago. They were last seen together in public at I'm A Celeb hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly's 40<sup>th birthday party. It was later rumoured that Cheryl spent the Christmas holidays with her family in her London home, while Jean Bernard was spotted living it up with friends in Miami.

The pair have also been embroiled in a very public social media spat in recent weeks, fueling reports that their marriage is on the rocks. An insider reportedly said: "They actually split up in August. They are still very good friends but are now getting a divorce. By the time of Ant and Dec's party they were just close friends who still enjoy spending time together.

"In the end they found they got on well but in reality probably got married too soon. But JB has said he'll always be there to support her when she needs him and he's a very honourable guy."

A source added that Cheryl was waiting to complete her judging role on ITV talent show X Factor before calling it quits with JB. The source told The Sun: "She pretended everything was OK on the live shows but was hurting inside. The minute the show as over she told her lawyers to get to work."

The pair first met in Cannes during the film festival, where the entrepreneur was running his Cosy Box pop-up restaurant. They married in a secret ceremony in Mustique in July 2014 after a whirlwind three-month romance. The couple exchanged vows in front of just four guests, including the Fight For This Love hitmaker's mother, Joan Callaghan.

While there has been no official confirmation that Cheryl, who was also married to Ashley Cole, is to divorce for the second time, she and JB have been embroiled in a very public spat on social media in recent weeks, exchanging thinly-veiled digs that indicated that the marriage was on the rocks.

Turning to social media to kiss 2015 goodbye, Cheryl posted the telling message: "I'm happy to see the back of you" with a picture which features a black and white image of the Fight For this Love singer, kissing her middle finger as she bids adieu to the year that was and, evidently, her husband too.