‘I’m not proud’: Journo apologises for THAT Cheryl bathroom photo

It was a seemingly innocent celebrity-spotting snap that was deleted within minutes, but fashion editor Laura Craik says she has faced a "week of hell" as a result.

The writer experienced huge backlash online after she posted a photo of Cheryl Fernandez-Versini which accidentally appeared to link the singer to Class A drugs.

Laura's "impulse" photo, which showed Cheryl washing her hands in a bathroom at the British Fashion Awards last month, came under scrutiny as it showed what appeared to be three white lines on the glass counter next to the star.

Further investigation proved that the marks were most likely nothing more than the reflection of the lights above. However Laura says she was framed "as the villian" for posting the snap, despite having decided to delete the photo even before noticing the reflection and what it could be interpreted as.

"Back at my table, I opened Instagram in order to delete the picture from my feed. And that was when I noticed another detail, one that really was no laughing matter," she says in a piece published in the Evening Standard.

"Despite the fact that all my photo showed was a reflection on a mirrored surface — a chimera — the story rolled on all week.

"While this was upsetting, it was nowhere near as upsetting as the experience of being trolled, viciously, on Twitter, by an army of Cheryl fans who genuinely thought I had sold my picture in a bid to frame their idol as some sort of drug user."

Laura says she most definitely was no trying to capitalise on the unfortunate detail, and indeed had apologised to Cheryl via an email to her PR team within 12 hours of the photo being posted.

"Rather than working against her, I worked with her to get the picture banned, by signing over copyright.

"I didn’t make thousands selling it to a tabloid. I made a nominal £1 [€1.41]." 

Cheryl has yet to make any comment about Laura's explanation on social media.