Girls Aloud have made their first public appearance since they announced that they were reuniting for a tour next year.
Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts will be touring the UK and Ireland next year – including one date in Dublin and one date in Belfast, in honour of their late bandmate Sarah Harding.
The girl group announced the news via Instagram on Wednesday night, paying homage to their hit discography, in particular their 2009 track The Promise.
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The foursome stepped out in London as they headed to Zoe Ball’s Radio Two show on Thursday morning.
Since confirming the news, the group revealed they have not recorded new music but just want to celebrate their back catalogue.
The MailOnline reported that Cheryl said: “We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate.”
“But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon.”
.@GirlsAloud at the BBC Radio 2 studio earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/FYmEFfGkom
— CherylWorld (@CherylWorldNet) November 23, 2023
“But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. That’s a big honour in lots of ways.”
Kimberley added: “Over the last year, we’ve felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group.”
“And I guess it’s ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.”
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Nadine said: “Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people’s lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people.”
“So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.”
Girls Aloud will play Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday, May 18, 2024 and the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday, May 20, 2024.
The popular girl group’s last Irish gig was back in 2013 when they played the 3Arena, formerly The O2, in support of their 2012 album Ten.
