Girls Aloud have spoken out about their late band member Sarah Harding and her departing gift to them before her death.
The girl band - originally comprised of five members but now four (Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh) due to Sarah's heartbreaking death - are currently making a comeback and are on tour.
Sarah passed away in 2021 as a result of breast cancer at the age of 39.
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They have paid their respects in tear-jerking tributes on stage, with footage showing Sarah singing her part of 'The Promise' on screen.
Girls Aloud were put together during ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002.
They went on to achieve unprecedented stardom, becoming the United Kingdom's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century and enjoyed two albums that debuted at number one.
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Girls Aloud have now spoken out in a new interview with The Guardian about life without Sarah.
It has now emerged that the news of Sarah's health reached the rest of the women after talks of a comeback began.
Cheryl said: "We hadn’t set a tour in place, we were just thinking about what it could be.
"Then Peter [manager and long-term collaborator] said, ‘I’ve spoken to Nadine, now I’ll speak to Sarah.’ But when he came back for the next chat he brought us the dreaded news that actually Sarah was unwell and this wasn’t going to be possible.”
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The interviewer, Michael Cragg, noted that the mood kept swinging between joy and sadness.
The band members revealed that after they learned of Sarah's diagnosis, they embarked on a series of sleepovers together.
They watched 'old Girls Aloud clips' and were forced to imagine a world in which they would reconcile and do gigs without her.
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Cheryl revealed that the one thing Sarah was intent on - that they should go on tour.
Cheryl said: “She said it to me, but at that time I just wanted her to stop talking, honestly. It was painful to hear her knowing what was coming. It was bizarre. How do you have that conversation? It felt wrong.”
Nicola added: “Your heart’s breaking for the person asking you to go on and do it.”
Then, Cheryl revealed the last gift Sarah gave them.
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It was a "small drawstring bag containing a smooth white stone inscribed with 'you are loved' on one side and a feather on the other."
Kimberley added: “I thought they all said the same thing. Mine says ‘love’.”
Nadine's stone reads 'Hope'.
Nicola added: “She brought a pouch with these stones in and we all picked one and I was last and mine - and this is hilarious - says ‘smile’", nodding to her media portrayal of being 'miserable'.
Kimberley concluded, when speaking of their tour that is missing such a vital member they all loved: "We’re not trying to pretend we’re not doing this without her. We feel that loss massively, on stage and in every song that we do.
"I really hope that we’ve done a good job of making her presence felt.”
Kya Buller