THERE was a massive love-in at the Arena this weekend.

Not between Black Eyed Peas lead man will.i.am and Cheryl Cole — as the tabloid gossips would have us believe — but between The Peas and the city of Manchester.

And the star was undoubtedly that man everyone is linking to the estranged WAG of England and Chelsea wideboy Ashley Cole.

Will’s first appearance on stage was an awkward duo with Ms Cole, during her 45 minute warm-up set — which we’ll come to in a minute — but once he exploded onto the stage with the rest of his gang, he was on fire.

It was absolutely roasting inside the MEN on what was surely the hottest weekend of the year, so BEPs’ two-hour show, which included a stunning 30-minute DJ set from will.i.am, was all the more impressive.

His every other word seemed to be Manchester — which sounded so much cooler in his affectionate US drawl.

‘Is Manchester better than London?’ he enquired. ‘Yeah!’ screamed the buzzing 11,000-strong crowd, not seeming to care that, ironically, Will was playing Blur’s Song 2 at the time. An Oasis track might have been a more apt choice, rather than one from the Manchester band’s fierce Essex rivals.

Will’s DJ set was his contribution to a rather cute ‘Meet the band’ section, in which we got a chance to learn the names of the rest of the hip-hop super group.

The stunning Fergie, who, by the way, has a cracking pair of lungs, belted out Big Girls Don’t Cry and Fergalicious.

The ‘other two’ did their bits — Taboo swooped across the arena rapping on a flying motorbike and Apple performed a back-breaking break dance routine. It was like their very own version of Britain’s Got Talent.

Cheryl Cole, meanwhile, impressed to an extent, opening with her best-known hit Fight For This Love.

Her dancing was impeccable, and there was no doubt that she was singing live for most of the night.

Parachutes was excellent. Cheryl looked every bit the Hollywood glamourpuss in a long flowing white dress, flashing flirtatious pearly-white grins at her spellbound worshippers.

The duet, however — 3 Words — was bizarre. Chezza and her supposed new love interest, Will, might as well have been on separate stages.

Chemistry was non-existant — will.i.am looked like a love stricken puppy dog/stalker, while Cheryl seemed distinctly uncomfortable.

She was back on track though, with an excellent cover of Owl City’s Fireflies, and ended, visibly shattered, with a rousing album track, Stand Up.

The winners on the night, though, were Black Eyed Peas. They were slicker than a transatlantic oil spill. It was pure black gold.