Girls Aloud's heartbreaking reunion - Sarah Harding plea to key part she'll play

23 November 2023 , 10:34

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Girls Aloud's heartbreaking reunion - Sarah Harding plea to key part she'll play

Girls Aloud' have opened up about their heartbreaking tour plans as they prepare to reunite on tour next year after Sarah Harding's death.

After days of teasing fans, Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Kimberly Walsh and Nicola Roberts revealed they will be hitting the road next May for a highly-anticipated series of concert dates that brings their 11-year-long hiatus to an end. The reunion tour will be dedicated to their former bandmate, Sarah who died of breast cancer aged 39 in 2021, and will see the talented quartet play all their hits as well as some of their own personal favourites.

Speaking on Capital FM on Thursday morning, the surviving four members of Girls Aloud opened up about their beloved friend in an emotional interview and shared how they plan to honour her on the tour. They confirmed that Sarah's vocals will be included in the setlist, revealing that one of her iconic lines from their 2009 song, The Promise, will continue to be sung by her.

Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl at BBC Radio 2 to announce the comeback of Girls Aloud (GC Images)

Sarah Harding passed away of breast cancer in 2021 (Getty Images)

"They will remain the same, her vocal parts are big parts like “Walking Primrose”, she is the actual walking primrose and “take a walk on the wild side”, she’s got some iconic Sarah’s bits. They will be Sarah’s bits. Why would we? They are her bits," Nadine said.

Cheryl recalled a 'one on one' poignant conversation she had with Sarah towards the end of her cancer journey. "This was in the later stages when she was really poorly though, and she’d said to me "I hope you four do something when I’m not here” and in that moment I couldn’t entertain that conversation," she said. "I was trying to keep her up."

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Nicola went on to reveal that they missed "everything" about Sarah before confessing it always feels like something is missing without her. "And it does still feel like that all the time, she just was, you never quite knew what you were going to get with Sarah, it was always high intense energy."

Cheryl agreed, calling Sarah's absence from the group 'bizarre' and 'very strange.' The former X Factor judge also said, "Even this morning getting dressed. Sarah was always the one who would be 10/15 minutes late anyway, we’d all be waiting, and we all still feel like we’re waiting for someone else." She went on to confirm that the tour would be doing everything to celebrate Sarah's life. "(She is) very much a part of the show… she was part of our make-up for 20 years and that’s not going anywhere," she insisted. "She’ll be there in spirit on the stage."

Cheryl and Nicola were spotted heading into the BBC headquarters (GC Images)

Kimberley Walsh looked sharp in a blue suit (GC Images)

Girls Aloud also joined Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday to share more exciting details about the tour, which kicks off in Dublin on May 18. According to Nadine, fans can expect to be wowed by the over-the-top shows.

“We’ve been known for that, like the many tours that we’ve done, where we’ve flown over, landed on another stage and then flown back," Nadine said. "Or on one of the tours, we got under the B stage and then ran through the arena backwards to get to the dresser. I mean, we really are gluttons for punishment but we’re all about the entertainment."

Nicola also shared her concerns that, with rehearsals not starting until April, they won't have enough time to prepare for the tour. ''I think we need more than a month!" she admitted, prompting Cheryl to reassure her that they'll be fine. "It's muscle memory... we've done it a thousand times," she said. A tour commercial, which apparently is inspired by the band's 2002 debut single, Sound of the Underground, has been recorded, but there won't be any new music or videos accompanying the nostalgic teaser.

Girls Aloud on their Ten: The Hits Tour in 2013 (Getty Images)

"Making new music without Sarah would be odd," explained Cheryl. "But celebrating what we made together? Fabulous." When asked why they've decided to go ahead with the reunion tour, Kimberly said: "The last few years we've found a massive outpouring of love and its been tough but something pulled us in." This sentiment was echoed by Cheryl, who said, "Between us we felt something - a shift - it feels magical, let's go!"

Girls Aloud's last tour, Ten: The Hits Tour took place in 2013 in celebration of their tenth anniversary. The shows received widespread praise, with critics hailing the band for their impressive performances after four years apart.

Emma Dooney