Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini has praised his ex Cheryl as a "great girl".

Cheryl and Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl and Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini

The pair split last year after 18 months of marriage but Jean-Bernard, 35, has insisted there are no hard feelings and like Cheryl, 32, who is dating One Direction hunk Liam Payne, he has also moved on.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It's been a tough year, I'm trying to move on. I'll never think badly of her. She is a great girl. I'm still a married man, but there is someone else."

However, he denied recent reports linking him to Cheryl's former friend Vanessa Perroncel and 'Baywatch' actress Pamela Anderson.

And JB opened up about his first meeting with Cheryl, admitting he fell for her immediately.

He said: "I was having a party at my house in South Africa and she turned up, but I didn't know who she was. I always go for very beautiful women.

"I fell in love, what could I do? I didn't know Cheryl was famous when I met her."

Cheryl and Jean Bernard tied the knot in a secret ceremony on the island of Mustique in 2014, just months after they met but she filed for divorce earlier this year.

A source said at the time: "They split up in August. They are still very good friends but are now getting a divorce.

"In the end Cheryl realised she had married too soon and had been swept away by a bit of a whirlwind romance.

"Over time it became clear to each of them that they were very different people and from very different worlds.

"They are now focusing on making sure they stay friends. The divorce is amicable and they have both said they will always be there for each other."