Girls Aloud’s Cheryl reveals what she misses most about Sarah Harding

Cheryl has revealed that she misses her Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding’s ‘electric and wild side’ after her death from breast cancer.

Speaking in a special two-hour show for Radio 2, which will air on Monday, Cheryl, 40, said: ‘There are little moments that you would share with her individually on stage on tour. Where there’s no more Sarah than in that moment and I can’t describe… like, nobody else would know her that way, other than us four.’

Kimberley Walsh added: ‘For me, I just love, I can see it in my mind whenever I want, seeing her perform Footloose on tour. To me, it just epitomises everything about her that was just so electric and wild. And the way she moved, like everything! If I need to feel Sarah that’s what I watch.’

The girl band, which now consists of Cheryl, Kimberley, 42, Nadine Coyle, 38, and Nicola Roberts, 38 – are currently on tour for the first time since 2013 and, during each show, they have been paying tribute to their dear friend Sarah.

And Cheryl almost ‘burst out crying’ as the group took to the stage in late bandmate Sarah Harding‘s hometown of Manchester on Thursday.

Sarah’s mother Marie sat in the audience as the group paid an heartfelt tribute to her daughter, who tragically lost her battle with cancer in 2021 aged 39.  

The group struggled to choke back tears as they held hands to sing a beautiful rendition of their 2007 hit I’ll Stand by You, which also included Sarah’s recorded vocals. 

They do this every night of the tour, with footage of Sarah displayed on the huge screens behind the women. 

Cheryl told the crowd: ‘Coming to Manchester has always been an absolute pleasure, It’s a really significant evening for us tonight in many ways. Obviously, we all remember Miss Harding’s hometown is Manchester’.

‘She would have been so proud of the reception we’ve had in here tonight, thank you so much Manchester for making it special for her, and for us’. 

Cheryl continued: ‘Sarah’s mam’s in here tonight and I’m sure she’s feeling all the love and energy in the room. We love you, Marie. When I come down on that podium, the energy I was hit with I could have just burst out of crying there and then.’

Before adding: ‘Thank you for making it bearable, and making it a joyous occasion for us all.’

Sarah passed away from breast cancer in 2021, and the remaining four singers decided to reunite and go on tour in a bid to pay tribute to their late friend, admitting they are ‘doing it for Sarah’. 

The first leg of the tour kicked off in Dublin and the iconic band are now making their way across the UK. 

Despite the beautiful performances they have been putting on, Girls Aloud has been forced to slash tour prices by 50 percent to fill stadiums and tickets have dropped to as little as £50. 

The move upset eager fans who had already spent between £58 and £200 on their tickets for upcoming shows across the UK in areas such as Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Aberdeen and London.

The half-price deal is being offered on Ticketmaster from Thursday until next Tuesday.

But one outraged fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘Ok can someone please explain to me how @nottinghamarena is getting away with selling Girls Aloud tickets at 50 percent off? For a better viewing seat to us who paid double. Fuming!!! At least move the people who paid more to the better seats, before doing this??!!!’

Another wrote: ‘I got girls aloud tickets two f****** days ago and now the evil Ticketmaster has put them on bloody half price. @NadineCoyleNow do something!!!!’

Someone else added: ‘The cheek of the Ticketmaster 50% off girls aloud tickets promo when we were all in the ticketing trenches paying a ton a few months ago.’

However, one person stuck up for the decision and wrote: ‘I can see both sides of the argument. Everyone wants to see as full as possible arena for the girls though and it shouldn’t be about money for fans – at the time you felt it was a price worth paying?’

The long-awaited reunion tour was first announced in November 2023 and kicked off with two shows in Dublin and Belfast.

A band insider told the Mail on Sunday the girls were ‘in tears’ after their Dublin show which saw them pay tribute to their former bandmate Sarah.

As they began, Nadine said: ‘We’re going to do a duet with Sarah tonight. It’s going to be us, Sarah, you. Let’s do this together.’ 

That prompted tears from many among the sell-out audience at Dublin’s 3Arena.

As usual, Sarah’s vocals were used and images of her were beamed onto a screen behind them.

Together they all sang their cover of I’ll Stand By You, which became their second number-one, in 2004.

Girls Aloud catapulted to fame in 2002 when they took part in the ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

They competed for a place in a girl band and were then pitted against a boy band from the show named One True Voice in the hope that their song would become Christmas number one.

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they went on to have three more number ones and 20 top ten hits.

Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.

The Girls Aloud Takeover With Rylan, will air from 2 to 4pm on May 27 on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.