STAFF and residents at a York care home have been treated to a surprise visit from Peter Andre.

The pop star and television presenter visited The Gravers care home in Wigginton Road on Friday, as a surprise for Cheryl Pratt ahead of Mother’s Day.

Cheryl’s father Anthony took his own life in December following a battle with mental illness, and since then she said she has found it hard to come to terms with his death.

She said: “We’ve just got to carry on. We’re all sticking together and helping each other through.

York Press:

“It’s only really recently I’ve felt... like it’s okay to be happy again, because I felt guilty even for smiling. I thought ‘dad should be smiling too’. The past couple of weeks I’ve started to realise I can’t keep feeling guilty and can’t change anything.”

Knowing Cheryl was a big fan of Peter - having travelled across the country to see him, meeting him on several occasions - her partner Chris sent a video of their daughter Ruby, aged eight, to ITV’s This Morning to arrange a surprise for mums who deserved it.

Only management at the care home knew the real story about the visit, with staff and residents told a local news outlet was making a short film about mothers who were working on Mothering Sunday.

Cheryl said she thought the whole thing was an early April Fool prank, but as she sat down and spoke to the camera, Peter sneaked into the room.

She said: “I was talking about the things we do, and felt someone kiss my head. I thought it was one of our residents, then turned round and it was Pete. I looked at him, then looked again, then just kept saying ‘Oh My God!’.

“I used to get music magazines when I was a kid and I remember the picture of him in the waterfall, but probably became a fan when he went into the jungle. Last time he saw me, he remembered me, and he said on Friday he’d been stalking my profile on the internet to make sure I hadn’t realised he was in York that night. He was panicking I knew he was there."

Cheryl said she was flattered by the lengths her family had gone to in order to arrange the visit, which had been organised more than a week earlier.

She said: “It’s a big secret to keep, I don’t think I could have kept it. I didn’t have a clue. It’s just amazing, the fact they obviously just care about me and want to make me happy.”

Joanne Sellers, manager of The Gravers, said Cheryl “deserved to be surprised and cheered up”, and she was pleased that Peter had spent time with the residents at The Gravers and The Hut - another part of the complex - and he “definitely gave people something to talk about”.