Cheryl Cole's toe woe

May 12, 2009, 4:00 GMT

The 25-year-old brunette beauty added to Britain\'s Hello! magazine: "I do struggle with that - the Nation\'s Sweetheart thing - because I don\'t really get it. I\'m just myself. Solarpix / PR Photos

Cheryl Cole has been left feeling "disturbed" after doctors drilled a hole in her toenail.

The Girls Aloud singer's gruelling dance routines on the band's current UK tour has aggravated the big toe injury she suffered while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity in February.

She said: "I've just been to see the doctor and he's drilled a hole in my nail to release the pressure. I feel quite disturbed.

"When I was training for the climb, my boots were too tight, which put pressure on my toe and the nail went black.

"It was growing off, but now, with all the dancing we do in high heels for the tour, it's built up again and it's hurting like hell every night. The doctor said I was brave, though!"

Cheryl - was heavily criticised after being found guilty of assaulting a nightclub toilet attendant in 2003 - is also shocked at how she has transformed into the "Nation's Sweetheart" after winning over the British public as a judge on UK TV talent show 'The X Factor' last year.

The 25-year-old brunette beauty added to Britain's Hello! magazine: "I do struggle with that - the Nation's Sweetheart thing - because I don't really get it. I'm just myself.

"It's lovely, though. I can think of worse things to be called - and I have been! I've gone from one extreme to the other - I was a bit of a pantomime villain before. But I can feel the difference in people's attitude towards me wherever I go, I really can. I can feel the love and that's really nice."