We haven’t been as excited about a reunion tour since the Spice Girls regrouped in 2019, but while Girl Power ruled the nineties, Girls Aloud dominated the noughties. After forming in 2002, the band went on to sell over four million albums, claimed four number ones, racked up a record-breaking run of 20 consecutive top 10 singles, took home a Brit Award and by 2012, were crowned the UK’s biggest-selling girl band of the 21st century.
It’s been over 20 years since Nadine, Cheryl, Sarah, Nicola and Kimberley released their first single, Sound Of The Underground – and over a decade since the band hit the pause button on their time together in 2013. A lot has changed since then including, very sadly, the loss of Sarah to breast cancer in 2021, but three years on, the time felt right to reunite and celebrate everything they achieved together, with the four remaining Girls Aloud members flying the flag for Sarah.
Prepare for a heavy dose of noughties nostalgia. The band promise to revisit their smash-hits, speckled with some personal favourites. Expect pyrotechnics, flying harnesses, co-ordinating costumes and big hair (the band has teamed up with sponsors Shark to ensure their strands can withstand some seriously energetic hair flicks each night throughout the tour).
Ahead of the first show, which kicks off in Dublin on 17 May, we caught up with the girls to talk a whole lotta history, fashion fails and beauty wins – and obviously we had to theme the questions to their lyrics…
I’m talking bout a whole lotta history…
What’s your favourite memory with each other?
Nicola: “How can you possibly pick one memory from 22 years? The Brits was a very poignant moment for us. That was a really special time. We’d worked really hard for a lot of years – the single had been number one, the album had been number one, the tour was sold out, then we won a Brit. It felt like everything had been building and then that night everything came together, it was a big moment for us.”
Throwback fashion is everywhere – but are there any Y2K moments you regret?
Nadine: “We tried so many looks! Unfortunately for us, they’ve stuck around – people can find them anywhere. We had this really adventurous stylist in our second video, No Good Advice. We all wore silver tin foil-esque outfits and they were ripping and shredding to pieces. At the time we thought we looked great and we were so new to it, so when somebody told us: ‘this is so London, this is so cool’, we were like, ‘ok!’.”
No good advice…
What’s the best beauty tip you’ve picked up from each other?
Cheryl: “I think the best thing you learn over the years is that less can be more. There’s often times where I look back at things and I can see myself caked when I really did not need to be caked. And definitely, I think for younger girls – when we were younger, and now really – just less is more. Build, rather than slap loads on at once.”
I’ll stand by you…
When is a key moment you’ve felt really supported by your band mates?
Kimberley: “I feel like just being in a band is actually such a massive support that you maybe don’t fully appreciate at the time, but then you do when you’re away from it. If you’re having a bad day, you can kind of throw it onto a couple of the other girls for that day. If you’re not really feeling in the mood for something, you kind of all share. You’re just not up there on your own. There’s not really one particular moment, but I do love having the support of other women around me.”
Sexy! No, no, no…
What makes you feel your best?
Cheryl: “Good hair. Honestly, I think you can get away with little or no makeup if you’ve got a nice hairdo. If my hair’s all over the place, you can forget it. It puts me in a bad mood. Nicola decided to tell me earlier that I’ve got the wildest hair of all of us.”