Cheryl Cole has joined the cast of Coronation Street for a very special one-off episode. The cameo is part of ITV’s Text Santa episode of the soap. Cole is set to play a childhood friend of Coronation’s Tina McIntyre, who drops by for a holiday visit to cheer up her pal. 30-year-old Cheryl visits Tina at the Rovers Return, hoping to lure her back to Newcastle for her mum's Christmas party. As usual, crazy and unpredictable antics ensue. Chezza herself is excited about the cameo in the beloved soap, which has become a TV institution in its five decades on air.

Cheryl Cole, Cannes Film Festival
The glamazon has toned down her look in the episode.

"It has always been part of my life, we'd all watch it as kids every night,” Cole said for the Daily Mirror. "It's surreal to be part of something I've watched my whole life."

She added: "It's great to be able to support six wonderful charities and I really hope that this year's appeal makes a difference to many lives."

Cheryl Cole, Book Signing
Nothing says Christmas quite like a Cheryl Cole cameo, right?

The Text Santa initiative, started by ITV in 2011, aims to raise money from the public by way of text donations and profits from merchandise. The money raised from the Text Santa telethon this year will be split between six charities – Barnardo’s, BeatBullying, Age UK, British Heart Foundation, CLIC Sargent and Help the Hospices.

The special episode featuring Cole will air on Friday, December 20 and besides the songstress, there are also a number of big events to look forward to. Cobbles stars Simon Gregson (Steve), Kym Marsh (Michelle) and Andy Whyment (Kirk) will also appear and Tina will have to find a way to resolve the love triangle, which came to a head on Wednesday’s episode, when Peter, who is engaged to marry Carla Connor (Alison King) gave in to temptation, kissing the barmaid on his wedding day.


Chezza even shared a couple of snaps from her time on set.