She is one of Britain’s biggest household names and is primed for a career comeback after stepping back to focus on motherhood.
But while Cheryl Tweedy boasts a net worth of £30million, the life of her four siblings couldn’t be more different.
The singer’s estranged brother Andrew Tweedy, 45, was spotted ‘begging for money and living in a tent outside a supermarket’ in Jarrow, South Tyneside, this week.
Cheryl is said to have made numerous attempts to help her brother kick his drink and drug addiction, including offering him a £20,000 stay in rehab.
The pop star previously revealed that Andrew’s downward spiral, which has been ongoing for three decades, started when he learnt that the man who raised him was not his biological father – causing consequences for the entire family.
Cheryl, 42, was raised alongside Andrew and their siblings Garry, Gillian and Joe, by mother Joan Callaghan and father Garry Tweedy on a council estate in Newcastle.
But their lives changed forever when at the age of 14 Andrew came home angry after being told the truth about his parentage by someone in the street.
Cheryl Tweedy’s estranged brother Andrew was spotted ‘begging for money and living in a tent outside a supermarket’ in Jarrow, South Tyneside, earlier this week
The popstar, right, as a young girl with her siblings Gillian, Andrew and Garry, centre. The family lived on a council estate in Newcastle
Cheryl is said to have made numerous attempts to help Andrew kick his drink and drug addiction, including offering him a £20,000 stay in rehab
Cheryl recalled the incident in her 2012 autobiography, My Story, and said she ‘remembered it like it was yesterday’.
She wrote: ‘My brother Andrew had burst in the front door in a terrible rage. I’d never ever seen him in such a state and he started ranting and raving at my mum and dad.
‘They looked really worried and my heart started beating superfast. “I’ll explain it,” mum said. Her eyes looked sad and she had deep frown lines in her forehead.
‘Dad had gone all quiet, which panicked me. The atmosphere felt chaotic. “Is dad my real dad?” Andrew screamed in my mum’s face.
‘I swear the clock stopped for a second. He said someone told him in the street that my dad wasn’t his real dad.
‘Andrew was going so berserk that he looked like a crazy person. But however mad he looked, this was sounding horribly realistic.’
Cheryl, who was 11 at the time, said her mother gathered the children around the kitchen table and said: ‘I was 21 when we met, me and your dad.
‘Mam nodded towards my dad to make it clear she was talking about him. “I already had Joe, and you two”, she looked at Gillian and Andrew now, but not at me.’
The revelation that Cheryl’s elder siblings had a different father tore the family apart.
Andrew and Gillian seemed to take the news the hardest, running away from home and turning to drugs, while her father Garry was unfaithful.
‘Mum and dad split not long after,’ she continued. ‘Dad had an affair and mum tried to take him back, but they couldn’t make it work anymore.
‘The stress of bringing up five kids on her own, with the police banging at the door all the time, must have been hard to cope with.
‘When Andrew was 15 he stabbed someone in a fight. This guy had punched Gillian in a pub. Everyone was in pieces. People were talking about prison, and I was lying awake again, worrying myself sick.’
Andrew was jailed for six years, with Cheryl hoping that the conviction would teach him a lesson and he’d turn his life around.
But he still struggled with addiction and has gone on to receive more than 50 criminal convictions.
Meanwhile, Cheryl’s relationship with her half-sister Gillian was said to be fraught after the release of her autobiography.
Andrew’s girlfriend at the time, Emma Stanners, told The People, that Gillian’s son was being bullied because Cheryl had disclosed her drug use in her book.
Speaking of the family’s anger, said: ‘He’s got to go to school with everyone saying, “Your mam used to be a druggie.”
‘I just can’t believe where Cheryl is coming from. She can say all this about others but nobody else can say anything about her.’
Gillian has stayed out of the limelight but has made anti-establishment, anti-vax and Covid denial posts on social media. She is also a fan of controversial influencer Andrew Tate.
In 2014, the pair seemed to have patched things up, with Cheryl saying: ‘When I had time out I did have lots of private time. I went away and I partied with friends and just got stuff done, I spent a lot of time with my sister as well and her kids.
‘I’ve got 11 nieces and nephews so I had a lot of kiddy fun. [I’m] not that great [an auntie] to be honest. Every month there’s someone new and I’ve got lots of cousins and brothers and sisters so it’s just kind of impossible.’
Yet Cheryl has not publicly mentioned her sister or the state of their relationship since.
Andrew and Gillian ran away from home and turned to drugs following the revelation that they had a different biological father to Cheryl, according to her autobiography
Gillian has stayed out of the limelight but has made anti-establishment, anti-vax and Covid denial posts on social media
Cheryl and her dad Garry, who had an affair and split with the popstar’s mother not long after the conversation around the kitchen table
Cheryl is incredibly close to her mother, with the pair often seen out together (pictured in 2003). While she is not publicly as close with her father, they are said to still be in contact
It is not known when Cheryl last had contact with Andrew, who in 2021 confessed that the popstar probably didn’t know he was homeless at that point.
He told The Sun at the time: ‘This is what I’m f***ing living like. I’ve been begging here for more than three months and it’s something that has really broken my heart.
‘I’ve got so much f***ing pride. With the family I’ve got, I shouldn’t be here. It’s horrible.
‘None of them have contacted me. Even though Cheryl’s not helping me, she’s still my family. She probably won’t even know I’m on the streets, I don’t blame her at all. This is the lowest I’ve ever been.’
It is not known whether Cheryl is in regular contact with her other siblings.
Her eldest half-brother Joe owns Timeless Body Art tattoo parlour in Byker and lives with his wife Kerry Stewart and their six children.
Joe describes himself as a ‘family man’ on his Instagram page, which follows Cheryl’s official account. Cheryl’s account does not follow him back.
Cheryl is thought to have a good relationship with her youngest half-brother Garry, who reportedly moved in with her when her marriage to French businessman Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini was on the rocks.
A source told The Sun: ‘He and Cheryl are extremely close. He’s part of her entourage and is by her side for practically all her work commitments.
‘He needs to be in London for a base, and Cheryl has a big house that needs to be filled. It goes without saying that at a time like this she’ll need his support.’
Garry also went to the States with Cheryl in 2011 when she relocated to the US X Factor and supported her after she was axed by Simon Cowell.
Cheryl is incredibly close to her mother Jean, with the pair often seen out together. While she is not publicly as close with her father, they are said to still be in contact.
This week, the family will no doubt have been rocked by new photographs showing Andrew Tweedy living outside a Morrisons in Jarrow, South Tyneside.
According to reports Andrew, is said to spend his day hoping the shop’s customers will buy him food.
He told The Sun: ‘I have been in rehab three times but I’m not going back. I am one of those people that take one step forward and ten steps back. Every time.’
Andrew, who has a history with crime, was in court last month for being drunk and disorderly outside Morrisons.
It is reported that Andrew told the officers when they arrived to ‘F*** off’, and added, ‘What you going to do?’
According to the newspaper, a tearful Andrew was discovered sleeping alongside bottles of urine and empty cans of beer in his makeshift home in northern England. He also shared the tent with a homeless friend.
It is not known whether Cheryl is in contact with all her siblings. Her eldest half-brother Joe owns Timeless Body Art tattoo parlour in Byker and lives with his wife and six children
Cheryl is thought to have a good relationship with half-brother Garry (pictured in 2014) who reportedly moved in with her when her marriage to Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini ended
Andrew has long continued to battle drug and alcohol addiction, despite numerous help attempts by Cheryl. It’s unclear what Andrew’s circumstances are currently (pictured in 2011)
Andrew – who has a son – revealed he was forced to live on the streets when his relationship broke down earlier that year.
A local officer reportedly said they do not have any ‘real right’ to move Andrew from the plot where his tent was erected, as the land was owned by the council. He was said to be awaiting temporary accommodation.
Andrew has long continued to battle drug and alcohol addiction, despite numerous help attempts by Cheryl. It’s unclear what Andrew’s circumstances are currently.
He previously turned down her offer to pay for rehab because he was scared of letting her down.
While the Girls Aloud star has never publicly mentioned her heartache regarding Andrew, he has acknowledged her unquestionable support on multiple occasions.
While brutally honest about his own failings, he said in 2008 that he hopes one day be able to get his life back on track and repay Cheryl for all of her kindness.
Cheryl previously revealed that she visited him in prison ahead of her 2006 wedding to Ashley Cole, writing about it in her autobiography.
”Why can’t you stop?” I begged him. ‘You’re devastating the whole family. Why can’t you change your ways?’
‘He shrugged and looked me in the face. ‘I’m too far gone.’ I left in floods of tears,’ Cheryl recalled. ‘His life was bleak and hopeless. But I still dared to hope he might want to reform one day.’
For confidential advice about drugs and addiction, you can talk to FRANK at frank@talktofrank.com, message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600.
If you are struggling with alcohol abuse or addiction, you can contact Alcohol Anonymous at 0800 917 7650 / help@aamail.org for help.
