28th Feb 2010

  ASHLEY Cole sparked fears for his mental state after sending a disturbing 3am text message to his friends saying: Thank you for everything.

The Chelsea star, 29, sent the troubled cry for help last week just hours after wife Cheryl Cole told him their marriage was over.


And friends of the injured defender were so panicked by the time and tone of the text that one immediately dashed to his Surrey mansion to check up on him.

One of Ashley's close friends said yesterday: The message came completely out of the blue at 3 o'clock in the morning and sent shockwaves through Ashley's camp.


He has a small and very close-knit circle of friends whom he sent the same message to and everyone who got it was very worried.

It was totally unprovoked and there were fears about where Ashley was mentally and what he was trying to say.


He was alone at home in the middle of the night and he seemed to be in a very dark place.

It was totally out of character and a clear sign that his state of mind was in a very bad way.

Cole sent the message to his inner circle last week as his struggle to save his crumbling marriage to Girls Aloud star Cheryl was ending in defeat.

Meanwhile, we can reveal, a subdued Cole is behaving like a broken man according to a well-placed source who has known him for {several years. The source said: Ashley is in a very bad way. He is very down and his friends are concerned about his state of mind.

He's a broken man. He is in his own world. Ashley can be quite shy but hes always an upbeat person. But at the moment he doesn't want to talk to anyone. He is like a zombie.

It seems the full scale of what's happening has hit him and its hit him hard. He feels a long way from home and powerless to do anything to stop his marriage unraveling.

Concerns were first raised about Cole's mental state before Cheryl flew to Los Angeles the day after the Brit awards.

As Cheryl prepared to fly out to the States, Cole begged her: Don't leave me.

Ironically, despite his betrayal, Cheryl was still so worried about her husband that she agreed to delay a decision on the future of the marriage until after she had returned from her week-long trip to the States.

Injured Cole sent repeated texts while she was away telling her: I love you.

Let's give it another go. We can try again.

The promises left doting Cheryl believing there was a chance they could get through their problems.

She even told one close friend: Maybe we can work things out.


But Cole's appeals fell on deaf ears last weekend when American Ann Corbitt, 28,emerged as the fourth woman in the space of a week to say he had cheated on Cheryl with her. Cheating Cole had sex with Ann during Chelsea's pre-season tour of America last summer.

And the Sunday Mirror revealed how Chelsea's head of communications Steve Atkins became unwittingly involved in Cole's attempts cover up his sordid fling .

Cole's betrayal with Ann was, sources say, the final straw for Cheryl, who texted her husband to tell him their marriage was over.

And then, as he realised his marriage was imploding, he warned Cheryl: If you leave me I don't know what Ill do.