Ashley is like a stranger to me know

Cheryl Cole's glittering career has put her at the pinnacle of the showbiz world.

But the string of sordid allegations about husband Ashley have plunged her into the depths of despair.

And those close to the 26-year-old X Factor judge are worried that the scandal is taking a terrible toll.

A source said: "Friends are becoming increasingly concerned for Cheryl.

"She is eating very little. She is beset with worry. And she is hardly sleeping.

"How much more can she take? She must be asking herself when will all these girls stop speaking out? Could she honestly ever trust Ashley again?

"Cheryl is measured in everything she does and never takes decisions lightly.

"But he has made her look a complete fool and Cheryl knows it.

BRAVE

"She doesn't now want to look a total mug by accepting his behaviour."

The tearful Girls Aloud beauty told one friend: "I've had enough. It feels like there is no way back. I simply just don't know which way to turn any more. He feels like he's a stranger to me."

Two new women came forward at the weekend to claim they had slept with Cole, who earns £100,000 a week.

It means he is accused of bedding four different girls and sending indecent pictures of himself to another.

Cheryl, who flew to America last week, has put on a brave face in public. But in the privacy of her Los Angeles hotel room she is said to be so distraught friends are having to comfort her. Yesterday she emerged for a recording session in Santa Monica. On an earlier visit she had worn a T-shirt with the words "I left my heart in Beverly Hills".

Meanwhile Cole is recovering from a broken ankle at home in Guildford, Surrey. Mum Susan is with him. American Ann Corbitt and model Alexandra Taylor yesterday became the latest women to claim they had slept with the defender.

He is said to have bedded Ann last July while Chelsea were on a US tour.

The 28-year-old local government worker said Cole sent her an explicit picture of himself before sneaking her into the team hotel for unprotected sex.

She said: "I was very taken aback by how intimate he was and how needy he was. It was like having sex with a boyfriend, someone who loves you.

"Ashley took my clothes off and was incredibly attentive.

"He was a creative and adventurous lover. When we went to sleep he wanted to snuggle up close.

"I don't like sleeping like that and he made me too hot. But even when I moved to the other side of the bed Ashley still wanted to hold hands and have contact. It was very sweet."

Ann said she was introduced to Cole, 29, by a friend at a Seattle hotel before Chelsea played a local team. Ann claimed she was not initially impressed by Cole and had no idea he was famous.

But she said he was persistent and she ended up kissing him after a trip to a bar.

When the evening was cut short because of a curfew imposed on the players, Cole allegedly begged her to go to his room.

Ann said that when she later asked him about using a condom Cole looked completely shocked.