HARDING’S BANDMATES ON TOUR
GROUP MISS ‘WILD SIDE’ OF FRIEND
GIRLS Aloud shared their fond memories of their late bandmate Sarah Harding as they admitted they miss her “electric and wild” side while on the road.
The remaining four members – Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – are on tour for the first time since 2013.
On the new tour’s opening night in Dublin all four girls struggled with their emotions as they honoured Sarah on stage, singing ballad I’ll Stand By You as footage of her played on screen.
They recalled how they celebrate Sarah (39), who died from breast cancer, as part of the show.
Sarah’s mother Marie Hardman was in the audience as the group paid a heartfelt tribute to her daughter at their Manchester gig last Friday.
Speaking on a two-hour BBC Radio 2 special with Rylan Clark, the girls said the one thing they wish they could change was having Sarah back with them now.
Moments
Cheryl said: “There’s little moments that you would share with her individually on stage on tour.
“Where there’s no more Sarah then in that moment and I can’t describe… like, nobody else would know her that way, other than us four.”
Recalling her favourite memory of Sarah, Kimberley (42) 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.”
And Nadine (38) said one of her fondest memories of Sarah was during a night out in Manchester where they both stood talking to strangers.
She recalled: “We went for a night out and I was making friends outside with people and she was banging on just saying, ‘What are you doing just talking to strangers, you can’t be just going talking to strangers!’ I was like, ‘Sarah it’s fine!’
“And then we sat outside just talking to strangers and I sat on her knee.
“I was like, ‘You sit on my knee now’, so we took turns. And we had the best night, just such a laugh, really like old times again. Even though she wasn’t well, she was just so, just Sarah.”
Nicola (38) said it was an early memory of Sarah that stands out while they were still in the Popstars.
She explained: “It was bonfire night and me and Sarah desperately wanted to go back up north.
“We had like one day off the next day. We were like “please”, begging production, so they were like, ‘Fine!’
“They got us a car, took us to Euston, I got
STAND BY YOU: Girls Aloud on stage during tour on my train, she got on her train, and we were like, ‘Bye I’ll see you in a day or so’.
“And then my train stopped at Crewe, pulled up at Crewe and I looked out the window and Sarah was on the platform with her suitcase, and I just looked at her, she looked at me.
Panic
“She started waving her arms around, she was like, ‘Help me, my train!’ And I was like, ‘I’ll help you!’ And then my train slowly starts driving off and I was like, ‘I can’t help you!’
“It was just so her to be flustered and in a panic.”
Nadine added: “She was full of energy. She was just so dynamic, she was really loud. She would jump around and run around so you couldn’t not see her.”
Despite being close now, the band think it took several albums before they felt a proper togetherness, having been created as part of the TV reality show in 2002.
Cheryl (40) said: “Even now, this time around, it’s like us three are mothers and a couple of us are 40. You get to know each other in a different way again. I don’t think that ever stops, that evolving.”
Since Sarah’s death, the girls have raised €1 million for cancer charities – including The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal.
The Girls Aloud Takeover with Rylan, 2-4pm airs on Monday on BBC Radio 2.