Olly Murs has admitted that he was once left dumbstruck by Cheryl Cole’s beauty.

The 28-year-old, who earlier this year asked the Girls Aloud star for her phone number on Twitter, said that he was lost for words during a chat on his return to The X-Factor as a performer in 2010:

“I was standing there pretty much just staring at her, thinking, ‘She is so gorgeous!’

“‘Olly, that was ­brilliant, I really enjoyed it,’ she said.

“‘Thank you, Cheryl,’ I ­replied, while actually thinking, ‘Jesus, you are so good-looking’. Perhaps I should try to get her number. Or perhaps I should offer her my number. I couldn’t ­actually think of anything else to say. I’d got nothing else to say!"

The 2008 talent show runner-up, whose new single, ‘Troublemaker,’ is a collaboration with Flo Rida, went on to add:

 “There was a bit of an awkward silence. ‘Er, yeah, I’ve gotta go now, Cheryl, okay...’. ‘Yeah, okay, see you then Olly. Good luck with ­everything!’ ‘Thanks’.

“After the show everyone was texting me. Even though I didn’t get Cheryl’s number I guess it was my night in the end.”