Cheryl Cole - Rare And Unseen - Pretty Little Newsclips

Rare and Unseen – Pretty Little Newsclips is a new unofficial DVD release featuring a selection of clips culled mostly from press events and red carpet interviews and provides a delightfully candid look at the evolution of nation’s sweetheart Cheryl Cole. Cramming a fair amount into just 45 minutes, the highly condensed collage-of-clips format works surprisingly well to give a snapshot of Cheryl as the superstar she has become.

Kicking off with a lengthy interview from all the way back in 2003, we see Girls Aloud on the cusp of releasing Jump from the Love Actually soundtrack. It’s quite charming really to see the girls in their jeans and t-shirts, so far removed from the hyper-styling we always see them in these days. It serves as a reminder of just how far they’ve come from those humble beginnings. Unfortunately, the interview is marred by some rather forceful questions about Cheryl’s conviction regarding the night-club incident and it’s frustrating to see the interview continuously push down this avenue. Thankfully the other girls step in to give Cheryl a helping hand and there’s some touching ‘Chim’ moments as Kimberley sticks up for her best friend. Cheryl is asked of her wishes for the future and she answers simply ‘to be happy.’ It’s a touching moment and a sentiment we can all subscribe to.

Moving swiftly on, the DVD whips through a 2006 Top of the Pops Reloaded interview where we see a ginger Fearne Cotton chatting to a blonde Cheryl. Changing hair-do’s and hair-colour are definitely a recurring theme throughout the DVD. With the overall feel of these largely quite unedited clips being very much random odds and ends that have been uncovered, you never quite know what’s going to crop up next. There’s footage from the 2006 V Festival and various glamorous red carpet affairs including a great shot where Nadine sticks her tongue out at the camera as she walks behind Cheryl and Sarah being interviewed.

As we reach the beginnings of Cheryl’s solo career on X Factor in 2008 there’s a fantastic bit just immediately following Alexandra Burke’s win. It’s here we get some of the best moments of the DVD: ‘I want to duet with Girls Aloud!’ exclaims Alexandra, only for Cheryl to retort with ‘No! You’d upstage us!’. It’s so charming in its sweetness and the clearly happiness on both Cheryl and Alexandra’s faces at having won – neither of them can quite believe it. One of the reporters asks Alex if she’d like Cheryl to be her manager; Alex replies ‘Oh My God! She already is.’ Even better is when a Freudian slip gets the better of Cheryl and she says that she did a ‘victory dance around Simon’s bedroom’ when her and Alex won. I was in stitches.

A smattering of clips from 2009’s Kilimanjaro Climb Comic Relief press shoot, the launch of Cheryl’s waxwork at Madame Tussauds  and the 2010 National Television Awards red carpet finishes things off. Perhaps the most iconic clip has to be the charity fashion show in 2008, for it was here that, in many ways, Cheryl achieved her true transformation into the solo star and national icon she is today. Walking down that catwalk, the cameras flashing and her smile lighting up the room, we fall in love with her again and again.

The DVD can be ordered from Amazon here.