Cheryl's husband wins payout over 'upsetting' marriage story

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's husband has accepted a payout from Bauer Media over an "upsetting" Heat magazine article that speculated about their "secret" wedding.

Businessman Jean Bernard Fernandez-Versini, who married the 31-year-old singer and X Factor judge - better known as Cheryl Cole - in July, brought proceedings for invasion of privacy and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 against the publisher at London's High Court.

The four-page article claimed that Mr Fernandez-Versini's wife had paid for her wedding ring and that her mother was to live with the couple, his solicitor, Callum Galbraith said.

The upset and distress caused by the article was compounded by the fact that Mr Fernandez-Versini, 33, had sought to avoid the media's glare, Mr Galbraith told Mr Justice Dingemans.

The article, published in August, also contained inaccuracies which the magazine did not put to him in advance of publication, the solicitor said.

He added that the publishers now accepted that the article amounted to an unjustified intrusion into Mr Fernandez-Versini's private and family life.

Bauer Media has apologised and agreed to pay him damages and contribute to his legal costs.

Neither Mr Fernandez-Versini nor his wife were at the hearing.