08 November 2023 , 10:48
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It's been 10 years since Girls Aloud broke the devastating news to fans they were splitting up, and now the iconic chart-topping girl group have secretly reformed and announced a reunion tour. In 2002, Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding were brought together on ITV's Popstars: The Rivals.
They went on to have an incredibly successful decade-long music career, before they broke up in 2013 after releasing their last single, Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me. Tragically, bandmate Sarah lost her life in 2021 at the age of 39 following a battle with cancer. Her shock diagnosis 'put things into perspective' and the group have since joined forces again.
Girls Aloud were put together on Popstars: The Rivals (mirrorpix)
The girls announced they were splitting up 10 years ago (Getty Images)It was revealed today the girl group have reformed and secretly filmed a music video in North London for their first single in 11 years, with the new track dedicated to Sarah. The video is said to see the girls transform into superheroes, featuring capes and Wonder Woman-style outfits.
In 2013, the band announced they were splitting up on Twitter, after their final gig at Liverpool's Echo Arena. The emotional message on their official account read: "Dear Alouders, we just want to say from the bottom of our hearts Thank you!! "This tour has been an amazing experience and the perfect chance to say thank you for being on this journey with us through a decade. It has far exceeded any of our dreams and we hope we are forever your inspiration and reminder that dreams really do glitter!! Your love and support will stay with us forever but we have now come to the end of our incredible time together. Love you lots."
However, one member of the group claimed she was 'blindsided' by the decision to break up and accused the others of 'plotting' behind her back. Nadine claimed that the rest of the band decided to call time on the group without consulting her. The Northern Irish singer said she was only told just minutes before going out on stage for the final performance of the Ten: The Hits Tour and none of the other girls had "breathed a word". "I didn't want the band to end, it was as simple as that," she told The Mirror in 2014, admitting she felt numb when she was told.
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"I didn't think we were going to end – we had done all the promo saying we were all together, having a great tour, wearing Victoria's Secret wings and stomping up and down the catwalk every night, loving every single minute of it. And then, on the very last night of the tour, our management and publicist came up to me and said the girls wanted to split up the band. I was thinking, 'What?!' I was in hair and make-up, about to get into my costume, and the show was starting in 20 minutes. I was shocked.
Nicola Roberts, Cheryl, Sarah Harding, Nadine Coyle and Kimberley Walsh formed Girls Aloud"I went back to my make-up lady and told her, and was like, 'F***! I don't have a job! What am I going to do?' I screamed and cried on stage and off stage." Nadine confessed she was "really dramatic" for around 15 minutes but then realised she had to accept the decision. She added: "But after that I was fine. I refused to even be sad about it. It is what it is. I couldn't kick and scream, and change their minds -but had it been me, I would have done it differently. Not just before you go out on stage."
Nadine said she was forced to hold herself together so that she could deliver the best performance for their fans, but by the time she saw the girls, someone had made the announcement public. She would not sign any of the formal paperwork confirming the group's demise, so is technically the only remaining member of the band.
Nadine added: "Thank God somebody told the truth because I never wanted the band to split up, and afterwards they were like, 'Well, she knew'. I didn't. I didn't feel it was the right thing to do. I didn't want to put my name to anything to do with it. So I said, 'If you want to write this thing from these four, write it from these four – but I'm taking no part in it'. I never signed it, so technically I'm still in Girls Aloud. I'm a one-man band! I need holograms made up of them so I can go back out on stage in 30 years' time."
The row went public the following morning when a furious Nadine told fans exactly how she was feeling. Taking to Twitter the next morning, Nadine said: "You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business. I couldn't stop them. I had the best time and want to keep going." Cheryl hit back, telling Attitude magazine that Nadine was "full of s***" and accusing her of holding the band to "ransom".
"She was the one who wanted to make a solo record. Which is why we took the hiatus. She wants to come out and say we broke the band up? No! She shouldn't tell porkie pies," the Geordie star raged. "Okay, so do you want us to tell the truth? She wasn't going to make another Girls Aloud record until she got a solo deal. I feel she held us to ransom and then made her solo record deal. It's the truth. She's saying that we broke the band up. So there you go."
The band's awkward feud rumbled on for many years after their split in 2013And their public mud-slinging was just the tip of the iceberg, according to a source, who claimed it kicked off royally behind the scenes on that fateful night. "It was really dramatic and there were a lot of tears. Nadine and Cheryl were both fighting their corner and nobody was prepared to budge," the insider told the Daily Star. "Nadine was saying [Cheryl] was trying to control everything. But Cheryl thinks it's nonsense. They only ever agreed to get back together for an anniversary tour and then leave it at that."
The fallout was bitter and Nadine said the others didn't like that she was being thrust further forward as the main vocal talent and was getting more solos than the others. She admitted: "It's so sad for me to have to admit this stuff now because for so long there's the band, and you want everybody to think we're best friends and we have pillow fights and drink milkshakes. That's what I wanted it to be, but it just wasn't how it was. So yeah, there was a divide. We're all very, very different characters."
With Girls Aloud over for good, Nadine attempted to relaunch her solo career, releasing a comeback single 'Go To Work' in 2017. It failed to make the Official Singles Chart and she was forced to cancel a seven-date tour of the UK and Ireland in 2018, admitting it "wasn't meant to be" and she couldn't deliver the kind of show she wanted.
"You deserve the best show possible and with such big venues and very little dates it was becoming impossible to achieve what we had wanted to do," she explained. "Everything is a lesson and this is definitely one for me. Thank you for your continued love & support!" But tensions still rumbled on as Simon Cowell made a snide remark about Nadine's solo career when Cheryl joined him for X Factor Judges' Houses in 2017.
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Urging her to reunite Girls Aloud, he sniped: "Why don't we get Nadine for dinner? The three of us and we should talk about it. I mean Nadine is not exactly storming the charts as a solo artist is she?" While Nadine was in the Australian jungle for I'm A Celebrity in 2019, Kimberley seemed to make a dig about their "working relationship" as opposed to a "genuine" friendship with some of the other girls.
Speaking on Loose Women in November 2019, she said: "Yeah [I was more friendly with Cheryl and Nicola]. It is true genuine real connection between us three." She added: "With Sarah and Nadine, it was more of a work relationship but it's like family you'd feel for them. You don't see them all the time."
Bandmember Sarah Harding tragically died in 2021 after a battle with breast cancer (BBC)However, it appears the seven-year feud ended in July 2020 when Kimberley credited lockdown for giving her time to reflect on the past and consequently reach out to the Irish singer. "Lockdown has been a time for reflection. Nadine and I were chatting the other day and we're going to get the kids together as they haven't met yet," she said.
When late band member Sarah was tragically diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2020, the girls put the feud behind them to support their friend. The Irish singer told OK! Magazine that the band has "a nice harmony going on now" after putting to bed their rift, saying: "When we see each other, it's like we've stepped back in time. As if we've only seen each other yesterday. It's such a tough time, but all of us have pulled together."
On September 5, 2021, Sarah sadly passed away and the group vowed to keep her memory alive and gold a gala evening. The Primrose Ball, in honour of Sarah, saw them raise over £1 million for The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, a branch of The Christie Charitable Fund. Kimberley said the event helped Sarah's mum, Marie, as she had something to put her energy into.
"It is a long friendship, it's really nice," she told The Sun before adding: "I feel close to all of the girls, it's genuinely a close friendship where we text daily." Kimberley added: "We are in each other's lives, we know what's going on. Obviously, with everything that's happened, we're really as tight as we've ever been at the moment, you just have to lean on each other, don't you?"
Last month, Girls Aloud fans predicted that a reunion was on the cards when they noticed details of a brand new company called Lets Go Eskimo Productions LLP being registered on Companies House. Fans noticed the new company listed Cheryl, Nicola, Kimberley and Nadine listed as owners. A source told The Sun: "This has been one of the best-kept secrets in pop, but it's actually happening now.
"The girls really came back together as friends to rally around when Sarah died, and it repaired some of the old rifts and put things into perspective. Suddenly the reunion which had seemed totally impossible for so long just felt a totally natural thing to do - in Sarah's honour." The source went on to reveal: "They've got a single and a video in the can, plans for a full record of new music, and for the fans the most exciting thing will be a massive reunion tour in 2024."