Cheryl Cole's dad reveals only handful of family and friends knew about secret marriage

Anthony Leighton revealed most of the family knew nothing of the impending nuptials

Cheryl Cole and Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl Cole’s dad has revealed she had kept the marriage to her French lover such a closely guarded secret that only a handful of family and friends knew she was tying the knot.

Garry Tweedy parted from Cheryl’s mum Joan Callaghan when she was 11 years old but is in regular contact via phone and text messages.

But today Garry, 56, told the Mirror: “She has left it for a while before making it public because she just wanted it to be kept completely private.

“I knew about it but Cheryl did that quite deliberately. And it worked.”

Still living in Cheryl’s native Newcastle upon Tyne, Garry was one of only a handful of people to know about his daughter’s wedding before it was officially announced.

Her step-dad Anthony Leighton, also in Newcastle, revealed most of the family knew nothing of the impending nuptials.

He said: “I am over the moon for her. If she’s happy then I’m happy. It is a right surprise. She’s lovely and I am really happy for her.

“I found out through Facebook, she doesn’t bother with us much. She phones her sister and she phones her brother sometimes but what we hear is just back and forward.

“This is a bit of a surprise for everyone. I’m pleased for her.”

Xposurephotos

The happy couple

When asked if the family attended the wedding he said: “I couldn’t tell you, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing in this family.

"Nobody says nowt about nowt to anybody.”

The X-Factor judge  tied the knot with restaurant owner Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini on a beach in Mustique last Monday after dating for just three months.

Cheryl, 31, and Jean-Bernard, 33, kept the nuptials tightly under wraps - inviting only four guests.

Mum Joan and PA Lily England were among those who witnessed the wedding, which was confirmed late last night by Cheryl with a photo of the ring on her Instagram account.

She wrote: “I usually do not discuss my personal life but to stop the speculation I want to share my happy news... Jean-Bernard and I married on 7/7/14."

  

"We are very happy and excited to move forward with our lives together.”

The lovestruck couple have been getting close since they met a few months ago and Cheryl brought her new love with her to a series of celebrity parties at the Cannes film festival.

Since then, the pair have been spotted together a number of times but the wedding, which was kept secret from all but only around 10 people, comes as a surprise.

The Frenchman owns a restaurant in the exclusive resort and is known to split his time between the French Riviera and St Barts in the Caribbean.