Sarah Harding gave the Girls Aloud reunion her blessing, Cheryl has revealed.
Cheryl, 40, Kimberley Walsh, 42, Nadine Coyle, 38 and Nicola Roberts, 38, will hit the road in May and June 2024 for a greatest hits tour which will coincide with it being 21 years since won ‘Popstars: The Rivals’.
The band members had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah – who died in September 2021 aged 39 – was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Now, Cheryl has revealed that one of Sarah’s final wishes was for the girls to get back on stage together.
Speaking to British Vogue, she said: “She turned to me once and said, ‘You know, when I’m not here, you girls should do something.’
“But when you’re face to face with someone that’s dying . . . we just thought some miracle was going to occur. We all thought we might be able to do something together.”
The group had been discussing a reunion before Sarah got her cancer diagnosis in 2020 but they could not face planning getting back on stage together in the wake of her death.
Cheryl added: “It’s hard for us to be here without her. It was our 20th anniversary last year but we were in no emotional shape to even contemplate celebrating at the time.
“Everything went out the window when we learnt about her diagnosis. We just needed to be there for her and support her as much as we could.”
Kimberley insists the tour will honour Sarah, who was one of the most passionate members of the group.
Appearing on Heart Breakfast, she said: “We always talk about how much (Sarah) loved Girls Aloud. She loved it.
“It was just the best time ever for her. We spoke so much about it in the few months before she passed away and how much she loved it.
“She made us watch old videos, the things we’d done together. She always said we had an amazing time together. She would love that we are doing this.”
Girls Aloud, which formed in 2002 on ITV’s ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ went on to become the most successful girl group of the 1990s, selling more than five million albums and landing four No1 singles and a Brit Award.
Their tour kicks off at the 3Arena in Dublin on 18 May and will finish at Liverpool’s M and S Bank Arena on 29 June, with tickets available from 1 December.