Click above to view a stunning new picture of Cheryl in tomorrow’s Grazia Christmas issue and read the new interview except below, the magazine is out tomorrow with the full interview since this isn’t the whole thing, and along with her shoe collection, make sure you check them out on StylistPick.com

Cheryl Cole has revealed that she is happier than ever after being out of the spotlight for four months and gaining seven pounds.

Looking more amazing than ever in this new shoot, Cheryl said that she had gone up a dress size and couldn’t be happier about it. Speaking to Grazia magazine, Cheryl said: “This is a happy time – onwards and upwards.”

It may have something to do with her massive shoe collection. Cheryl confessed: “I’ve always, always loved shoes but over the past few years I’ve definitely developed a proper fetish.

“I own about two thousand pairs of shoes – and that’s after giving quite a few away. I’m a bit weird with them. There are shoes I don’t wear anymore but I just can’t part with them.

“If I can’t wear them again I also can’t get rid of them because they are so linked to that emotion. I’m probably a bit bonkers like that. I hoard them all over the house, in cupboards in the kitchen, in the bathroom, every room. There is a big chance when you open the fridge in my house there will be a pair of shoes at the bottom.

“My absolute favourites are a lace pair of Louboutins. I wore them the first ever time I went to Cannes, two years ago. For me, all shoes have memories – wearing them on a certain occasion like that means the shoe gets that memory.”

She may be giving Imelda Marcos and SJP a run for their, er, heel habits but Cheryl refuses to obsess about everything, namely her weight.

The star admits: “When I’m really thin is normally when I am working nonstop. I don’t put any emphasis on thinking, “Oh, I’m thin at the moment. Right now I’ve got my curves back because I’ve had time off, I’m at home cooking, I’m more relaxed.

“I’m not defined by being seven pounds heavier than I was two months ago – I think it is really unhealthy to go there.

“I’ve got my boobs and bum back and, yeah, I like it. I think it’s sexy.”

When she’s not watching the Royal Wedding with Girls Aloud bandmate and BF Kimberely Walsh (“I made scones, she made banana bread and cried all the way through,” recalls Kimberley) she’s putting her heel expertise to good use.

Cheryl launches her debut shoe collection for Stylistpick.com this week, with the new drops landing first in March and then throughout next year.
embargoed-Cheryl Cole in Grazia (Pics:Grazia)

Cheryl Cole wears Jenny Packham for the Grazia shoot

“I absolutely love it,” she says. “The whole idea was like a breath of fresh air, something totally different but still creative. I love learning, I love creating. There was nothing scary about it. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

“My absolute aim is killer shoes that don’t kill your feet. I can walk in heels of any height and I can dance in them because I’ve just been doing this for so long,’ she says. ‘As a kid I was a ballet dancer and I always had really sore toes.

“I had to have them broken and re-straightened, which sorted them out, but because I’m quite small, to me, getting dressed is all about the heels.

“I have another pair of Louboutins that are so cripplingly painful but I’m trying to ease myself into them gently, wearing them for a few minutes every now and again.”

Her ‘international style icon’ status suffered a setback when Cheryl’s career hit the skids earlier this year (Cheryl was publically sacked from her X Factor US gig by Simon Cowell) with her ‘Porange’ auditions outfit slated on both sides of the pond.
Cheryl Cole and Jessica Alba wears the purple and orange trend.

Cheryl’s DVF ‘Porange’ look was criticised but sparked legions of celebrity copycats, ain’t that right Jessica Alba?

But Cheryl remains positive: “Women look best when they’re happy.

“All of us girls can get so confused. I think women look best when they are happy. The greatest, sexiest thing is just being comfortable with you.”