“Sarah was warm, wonderful and wild – she lived life to the full”
After the tragic news of Sarah Harding’s passing, Closer takes a look at her incredible 20 years in the spotlight, and speaks to pal Danielle Lloyd about what she was really like
❛ ALTHOUGH SHE WAS UNLUCKY IN LOVE, SHE ALWAYS REMAINED POSITIVE AND HAPPY ❜
Sarah Harding’s devastated mum Marie confirmed the heartbreaking news last week that her daughter had “slipped away peacefully” in her sleep.
Thousands of fans, along with her celebrity friends – including Davina McCall, Geri Halliwell, Jordan and ex Calum Best – plus her Girls Aloud bandmates posted touching tributes on social media.
DEVASTATED
Kimberley Walsh wrote, “Beautiful Sarah, this hurts so bad. To wake up and know that you are really gone is too much to bear. Hearing your infectious chuckle was one of my favourite things in the world. Your fire burned so bright and you loved, lived and laughed so hard. My heart is broken.”
Meanwhile, Nadine
Coyle said, “I am absolutely devastated!! I can’t think of words that could possibly express how I feel about this girl and what she means to me!” Cheryl added, “Although we knew this day would arrive I am somehow still feeling at a loss for words that our stunning, unique, crazy, quirky, kind and soft-hearted girl has departed, I love you Sarah... farewell.” And Nicola Roberts wrote a long post, opening with the words, “I’m absolutely devastated and I can’t accept that this day has come.”
In her autobiography Hear Me Out, which was released this year, Sarah explained she had found a lump in her breast at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but had left the lump for months without getting help. She self-medicated with pain killers until eventually she ended up in A&E in agony. Despite chemotherapy and a mastectomy, the cancer advanced, leaving her with just months left to live.
After sharing the news of her diagnosis, Sarah, who was just 39 when she died, vowed to “live and enjoy every second of [her] life, however long it might be.”
Sarah grew up in Ascot, Berkshire, and worked as a hairdresser, a club promoter, a Pizza Hut waitress, a van driver and a debt collector, before rising to fame on
Popstars: The Rivals aged 20.
She was chosen, alongside Nadine, Nicola, Cheryl and Kimberley, to form Girls
Aloud. The band bagged five nominations and one Brit award in 2009, and sold more than 8m records, including two number-one albums and 20 consecutive top-10 singles, four of which were number one.
PARTYING
Sarah also made headlines for her high-profile romances – dating reality star Calum Best, presenter Steve Jones and her Celebrity Big Brother co-star Chad Johnson. Her love of partying led her to be dubbed “Hardcore Harding”, with Sarah herself once proudly saying she could “outdrink” her bandmates.
But her party lifestyle came to a head in 2011, when she checked into rehab for an addiction to alcohol and sleeping pills, as well as depression, after her break-up with fiancé DJ Tom Crane.
She embraced sobriety, however, and bounced back. Then in 2013, Girls Aloud announced their split after 10 years in the spotlight. There was reported tension within the band, with Nadine and Sarah remaining close while Nicola, Cheryl and Kimberley formed their own tight friendship group.
To avoid the party scene,
Sarah opted for a “quieter life” by moving to the Buckinghamshire countryside in 2014 and saying, “I’ve got animals now – it’s like being a mum.” She then released a solo album, Threads, acted in St Trinian’s 2 and starred in Celebrity MasterChef, The Jump and Tumble, before winning
CBB in 2017. She and her bandmates reconciled and got back in touch after she revealed her cancer diagnosis, with the girls meeting up last summer for the first time in eight years.
This March, Sarah released solo single Wear It Like A Crown, which raised money for cancer charity The Christie Foundation. When it reached number one, Sarah said, “I can’t believe it. I’m a bit overwhelmed.”
Sarah said she wrote her 2021 autobiography with the aim of closing the space between her public persona and the girl she truly was. She wrote, “It feels like this is my chance to show the real me. Somewhere between the nightclubs, hairdos and hits, the ‘other’ Sarah Harding got lost.”
And her friend Danielle
Lloyd tells Closer that Sarah was great fun, incredibly talented and a fiercely loyal friend.
DOWN TO EARTH
Danielle, 37, says, “I met
Sarah in 2006 at an event in London, and we hit it off straight away. She was a few years older than me and took me under her wing. She invited me out the following week – and took me to Cheryl’s hen party! It was surreal. I remember thinking, ‘How lucky am I to be here!’
“Sarah was just so warm, wonderful and totally wild. She was very down to earth, and was always up for having fun and going out. She really did live life to the full. And she was so incredibly talented – she was a shining star.
“When we both went through bad break-ups in 2007, we decided to go to Dubai together to cheer ourselves up. We just laughed every day, went partying and had fun. She was a hopeless romantic and wanted marriage and a family. Although she was unlucky in love, she always remained positive and happy and never gave up hope. Our lives went in separate ways when I moved up to Birmingham, got married and had my kids. But although I didn’t see her often, I always knew she was there for me.
“She was going to come and stay with me in November 2019 for a catch-up, but sadly it didn’t work out. Then it all came out about her cancer, and I reached out. I told her I loved her and was here for her to talk. I didn’t know what else I could say. To die at 39 is just so young, but she really did live life to the full and she’s made me determined to do the same.”