Cheryl Cole dazzles in a pink Victoria Beckham dress as she makes her red carpet return at Pride Of Britain Awards

Looking Posh! Cheryl Cole dazzles in a pink Victoria Beckham dress as she makes her red carpet return at Pride Of Britain Awards

By Emily Sheridan

Last updated at 10:39 PM on 3rd October 2011




She's been a notable absence from the London celebrity social scene since her unceremonious firing from X Factor USA five months ago.

But tonight, Cheryl Cole made a dazzling comeback to the red carpet as she arrived at the Pride Of Britain Awards in a stunning dusky pink gown... by her old friend Victoria Beckham.

With her blonde curly long bob and floor-length gown, the 28-year-old singer looked a world away from her previous Girls Aloud image of brunette hair and mini skirts.

Pretty in pink: Cheryl Cole glows in a floor-length dusky pink Victoria Beckham gown and blonde curls as she arrives at the Pride Of Britain Awards at London's Grosvenor House Hotel

Her decision to wear a Beckham dress comes as a surprise given her comments about Posh's fashion range two years ago.

In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Cole dismissed Beckham's dress collection as for 'older women' and 'not something Girls Aloud would wear'.


But perhaps now at the age of 28, Cole considers herself 'old' enough to wear Beckham's critically-acclaimed gowns.

Showing every curve: The Beckham cadillac pink double crepe panelled number clung to Cole's figure in all the right places

Did I make the right choice? Cole shows off her earrings after earlier asking her Twitter followers to help her choose ones to wear

Ahead of the star-studded ceremony, Cole admitted she was feeling anxious about posing on the red carpet.

She tweeted: 'How can I still be nervous about red carpets after 10 (sic) years.. Eeek!

Before arriving at the Grosvenor House Hotel ceremony, Cole asked her Twitter followers to help her choose what earrings to wear.

Girls... more like Women Aloud: Cole was joined at the ceremony by Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts (left in a Luisa Beccaria dress) and Kimberley Walsh in a plunging Blugirl by Blumarine gown

Cole was attending to present a special award after flying to Afghanistan last month.

Speaking about her trip, she said: 'I was warned before I went out there that it could be dangerous. But nothing was going to stop me from going. And I'm just so glad I did.

'Afghanistan was an unbelievable experience. The whole trip was incredible. The men and women I met out there were inspirational, and so amazingly brave and dedicated.'

Golden girls: Daybreak presenter Christine Bleakley glowed in a gold bandage dress, while X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos wore a Renaissance-print number

She shoots, she scores: England WAGS Abbey Crouch (left in Philip Armstrong) and Coleen Rooney (right in Limited Edition Littlewoods) both opted for little black dresses with an edge

Supporting Cheryl at the awards were her Girls Aloud bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts.

Like Cole, Roberts went for a girlie pink Luisa Beccaria number, while Walsh had the sex factor in a plunging black Blugirl by Blumarine maxi dress.

Aside from the worthy award winners, the night played host to another meeting between Cole and her X Factor replacement Tulisa Contostavlos.

Welcome to life on the red carpet: Supermodel Elle Macpherson, in DSquared 2, introduced Britain's Next Top Model winner Jade Thompson to her new life as a celebrity

Where's Frankie? (L-R) The Saturdays Rochelle Wiseman, Una Healy, Vanessa White and Mollie King posed in pairs on the red carpet without bandmate Frankie Sandford

The N-Dubz singer, who has fought off constant comparisons to Cole since being appointed the panel's youngest judge, went for a daring look in a Renaissance-print mini dress.
No doubt reminiscing about meeting her now-fiancé Frank Lampard at the same event two years ago, was Daybreak presenter Christine Bleakley in a gold bandage dress and her signature mahogany tan.
Representing the WAG contingent was Abbey Crouch and Coleen Rooney, who both attended solo without their respective footballer husbands Peter and Wayne.

Going West: The Only Way Is Essex stars Sam Faiers and Jessica Wright both opted for slinky black gowns, while their former co-star Amy Childs wore an Ultimo Couture dress

Strictly stylish: Australian singer/actress Holly Valance looked stunning in a flowing pink gown, while Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly wore a black and blue sparkly mini

Mrs Crouch showed off her tiny figure in a black asymmetrical dress with spiked detail on the shoulder.
Mrs Rooney proved to be a good ambassador for her employer Littlewoods as she wore one of the catalogue's customised little black dresses with a bejewelled neckline and belt.
Also representing her own clothing range was lingerie entrepreneur Michelle Mone, who wore an eye-catching multi-coloured maxi dress from her new Ultimo Couture range.

Spice up your life: Heart FM DJ Emma Bunton had earlier tweeted her excitement at seeing her 'gorgeous' ex-Spice Girl bandmate Melanie Chisholm

Going grey: TV presenter Myleene Klass (left) wore a grey Jacques Azagury mermaid gown, while Pride Of Britain Awards host Carol Vorderman wore an Amanda Wakeley number

The blonde Scot admitted she was running out of dresses for the amount of red carpet events she was attending and plumped for the same gown she wore to the Cash For Kids Ball on Saturday.
She tweeted: 'Sorry same dress as Sat but been cleaned, who cares.'
Model/TV presenter Nell McAndrew was also going for a multi-coloured look in a pretty floral shift dress.
Aside from the three Girls Aloud members, their successors The Saturdays were also in attendance.

Any dress as long as its black: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson - in Alaia -, EastEnder Shona McGarty and Dragon's Den star Hilary Devey all wore very different black dresses

Good advert: Lingerie entrepreneur Michelle Mone (left) wore one of her own Ultimo Couture gowns, while TV presenter Nell McAndrew wore an equally colourful dress

Pregnant Una Healy wore a black asymmetrical dress as she posed with bandmate Rochelle Wiseman, while a polka-dot clad Mollie King cosied up to Vanessa White, who looked glam in a burgundy number.

It was a mini Spice Girl reunion for Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm, who had been earlier tweeting about their excitement at seeing each other at the awards.

TV presenters Myleene Klass and Carol Vorderman both went for similar looks in dramatic grey gowns.

Back to black: Holly Willoughby wore a dress from her Very.co.uk range, Xtra Factor host Caroline Flack looked cute in a lacy number, while EastEnders actress Jo Joyner wore a black tiered number

Night away from the dance studio: Strictly contestant Harry Judd and partner Aliona Vilani, Robbie Savage and his wife Sarah and Jason Donovan and his daughter Jemma

Girls night out: Loose Women panellists Andrea McLean, Denise Welch and Lisa Maxwell (left) arrived together, while their former colleague Coleen Nolan brought husband Ray Fensome

Loose Woman Vorderman - who was hosting the ceremony - showed off her famous curves in a grey Amanda Wakeley gown, while Klass went for a fishtail number.

With the new series of Strictly Come Dancing having just started, it was no surprise to see a host of the show's contestants in attendance.

Australian singer/actress Holly Valance looked stunning in a floor-length pink patterned gown, while Strictly host Tess Daly kept it short and sweet in a blue and black zig-zag Alice + Olivia jersey mini dress.

Sporting pair: Retired footballer Jamie Redknapp and his stylish wife Louise (left) and cricketer Andrew Flintoff and his wife Rachael

McFly's Harry Judd arrived with his professional partner Aliona Vilani, while Jason Donovan made it a family affair and brought his 11-year-old daughter Jemma.

While many stars turned up solo, there were also a host of celebrity couples at the event.

Cycling champion Mark Cavendish arrived with his glamour model girlfriend Peta Todd, who towered over him in black platforms.

Height difference: (L-R) Glamour model Peta Todd towers over her cycling champion boyfriend Mark Cavendish, comedian Ronnie Corbett arrives with wife Anne while Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen brought wife Jackie

They all filed in two by two: (L-R) Skating partners Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Sky Sports presenter Ben Shephard and his wife Annie, while Corrie star Helen Worth arrived with partner Trevor Dawson

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2044829/Cheryl-Cole-dazzles-Victoria-Beckham-dress-Pride-Of-Britain-Awards-red-carpet.html#ixzz1ZlIlAFob