Kimberley Walsh felt pressure to stay slim in Girls Aloud.
The 38-year-old singer has admitted that being in the girl group – which was also comprised of Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle – there was always the risk that their weight could “snowball” and she felt she had to watch her diet and stay in shape to look like her “naturally tiny” bandmates.
Kimberley discussed the issue with girl bands and weight on Saturdays star Frankie Bridge’s ‘Open Mind with Frankie Bridge’ podcast.
The latter – who was joined in the ‘All Fired Up’ group by Una Healy, Mollie King, Rochelle Humes and Vanessa White – said: “If one of us lost weight, we’d all follow.
“Whether it was on purpose or not, it just kinda happened.”
Kimberley agreed: “It has a knock on effect.
“So you have to be careful if people are struggling with eating – it can snowball.”
The ‘Love Machine’ singer would go on crash diets to make herself “feel better” about herself before shooting music videos or going on tour, but she regrets it now because she looked fine.
She added: “That makes me feel quite sick at times, but it’s the reality.
“I always had to be aware. I’d always crash diet before a video or a tour just to make myself feel better.
“Now I look back and think I looked fine, I should have just been happy.
“I’d be happy to look like that now.”
Meanwhile, Kimberley recently insisted she isn’t interested in returning to her pop roots.
Since Girls Aloud disbanded in 2013, she’s largely concentrated on musical theatre and doesn’t want to go back to her chart career.
Asked if she’d record a solo album, she said: “I wouldn’t be interested in doing anything pop related. Maybe another musical album would be fun.”
Kimberley won a place in the ‘Sound of the Underground’ band after competing on reality show ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ and admitted she thinks it would be “really fun” to be a judge on a similar star-search programme, but only if the role was to help and support the contestants.
She said: “If it was the right show, it could be a really fun job. I like the more lighthearted shows like ‘The Voice Kids’.
“I love seeing how talented the kids are, but I’d never want to do anything where it’s pushing people. I’m more about mentoring.”