17 May 2024 , 19:58
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Ahead of the first night of the Girls Aloud reunion tour in Dublin, Cheryl revealed a very personal reason that swayed her towards embarking on the UK-wide arena tour.
The 40 year old star, who shares a son with former One Direction star Liam Payne, explained that now she, along with Nadine Coyle and Kimberley Walsh are all mothers - she wanted to show their kids the reason behind their fame. The group will give their first performance in 11 years to a 13,000 strong crowd at the 3Arena and according to the star, their kids were beyond excited to see their mums on stage.
However, their performance will be tinged with sadness as Sarah Harding is not there to bask in their joy after she lost her battle to cancer in 2021. Speaking about her reason to join the reunion tour, Cheryl told The Sun: "I think one of our driving forces is that our kids are going to see us on stage and think we’re actually cool. They’re going to see Mammy on stage!"
But that is not the only reason. The group said they also wanted to do Sarah justice and bring back memories for fans. Cheryl added: "I want us to bring back happy memories for people. I love listening to music that transports me to the way I felt at a different time, and I think Girls Aloud are that band for a lot of people." Kimberley continued: "I think I’m only realising now just how much our music means to people.I get so many different kinds of people approaching me to say our songs hold special memories for them."
The Newcastle born star recalled how Sarah had stayed with her for a week, throwing around ideas to celebrate 20 years of the girl group. Kimberley went on to say: "One of our main aims on this tour is to do Sarah justice and give us and our fans that moment to celebrate her. I think they need it — I think we all need it." The band split in 2013 after accruing 21 Top Ten hits including their chart-topping debut Sound Of the Underground.
Cheryl receives standing ovation with Girls Aloud pals supporting West End debut
Girls Aloud kicked off their reunion tour in Dublin to 13,000 fans (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Perfect X AMI)
Cheryl has revealed they wanted to do the tour to show their kids why they're famous (Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Londoner)The tour continues through to the end of June before headlining Brighton Pride in August. At the time the group called it quits to pursue other ventures, there appeared to be a bitter feud forming between Nadine and Cheryl over who had engineered the split. Nadine had taken to Twitter to inform fans that she was blindsided by the decision as she had no idea the girls had wanted to break up.
She furiously wrote at the time: "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 & want to keep going. Xxxx." But unable to remain silent, Cheryl hit back in an interview with Attitude magazine and accused Nadine of holding the band to ransom.
She said: "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. 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."