Sarah announced she had breast cancer in August 2020 but died at the age of 39 in September 2021.
It was around this time when the girls, including Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh were thinking about how they were going to celebrate 20 years since the group was formed.
Sadly plans were put on hold until this year when they embarked on The Girls Aloud Show, with performances in London and Liverpool still to come.
Pick up a copy of today’s @GdnSaturday where we gave @MichaelCragg an exclusive peak behind the scenes at #TheGirlsAloudShow tour rehearsals 📣💃 pic.twitter.com/hOYI8Ae1gi
— Girls Aloud (@GirlsAloud) June 8, 2024
Nadine Coyle says she keeps expecting Sarah Harding to ‘burst in’
Speaking to The Guardian, the girls recalled when they found out about Sarah’s diagnosis and how their “hearts broke” making her final Girls Aloud wish come true.
All five of them had sleepovers, watched old clips together and “reluctantly talked about a future without her”.
But one thing Sarah was “keen” the band should do was “go on tour”.
Cheryl added: “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.”
Cherly continued: “And you know she would have loved this.”
Opening up about feeling Sarah’s presence on tour, Nadine explained: “I keep expecting her to burst in.
“With some tale of woe, like a horse ran in front of her and then this happened and this happened and she had to rescue it.
“She always had these amazing tales; getting from A to B, she’d have A to Z happen in between.”
The touching gift each Girls Aloud member received from Sarah Harding
But one way Sarah lives on between them is through a small yet meaningful gift she gave to each of the girls before she passed away.
During the recent interview, Cheryl pulled out a small drawstring bag that contained “a smooth white stone” inscribed with “you are loved” on one side and a feather on the other.
“I thought they all said the same thing,” Kimberley said before Nadine revealed her stone says “hope”.
However, it was Nicola’s cherished gift from Sarah that has a funny meaning behind it.
The 38-year-old who is often portrayed as the “miserable” one explained: “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’.”
Kimberley said: “We’re not trying to pretend we’re not doing this [the tour] 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.”
Throughout the tour, Girls Aloud have been paying tribute to Sarah in an emotional segment throughout each show.
Recommended reading:
When performing Brit award-winning chart-topper The Promise, as the chorus ends, the music cuts off and the girls turn to face a black and white clip of Sarah on a giant screen.
Sarah is then heard singing “here I am, walking Primrose, wondering when I’m gonna see you again” on a loop.
You can find information including any remaining tickets for The Girls Aloud Show on the group’s official website.
