Cheryl admits she misses her Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding’s ‘electric and wild side’ after sharing an emotional on-stage tribute following her death from breast cancer

Cheryl has revealed she misses the ‘electric and wild side’ of her Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding following her death from breast cancer.

During a special two-hour show for Radio 2, which airs on Monday, Cheryl, 40, said: ‘There are little moments you would share with her individually on stage on tour. Where there is no more Sarah than there is in that moment and I can’t describe it…no one else would know her like that except the four of us.”

Kimberley Walsh added: ‘For me I just love it, I can see it in my mind whenever I want, seeing her perform Footloose on tour. To me, it just embodies everything about her that was so electric and wild. And the way she moved, like everything! If I want to feel Sarah, that’s what I look at.’

The girl band, which now consists of Cheryl, Kimberley, 42, Nadine Coyle, 38, and Nicola Roberts, 38, are currently on tour for the first time since 2013 and at each show they paid tribute to their dear friend Sara.

And Cheryl nearly burst into tears as the group took to the stage in late bandmate Sarah Harding’s hometown of Manchester on Thursday.

Sarah’s mother Marie sat in the audience as the group paid a heartfelt tribute to her daughter, who tragically lost her battle with cancer in 2021 at the age of 39.

The group struggled to hold back tears as they held hands to sing a beautiful rendition of their 2007 hit I’ll Stand by You, which also featured Sarah’s recorded vocals.

They do this every night of the tour, with images of Sarah shown on the large screens behind the women.

Cheryl told the audience: “Coming to Manchester has always been an absolute pleasure. It’s a very important night for us tonight in many ways. Of course, we all remember that Miss Harding’s birthplace is Manchester.

“She would have been so proud of the reception we had here tonight, thank you so much Manchester for making it special for her and for us.”

Cheryl continued, “Sarah’s mom is here tonight and I’m sure she feels all the love and energy in the room. We love you, Marie. When I got on that stage, the energy that hit me could have made me burst into tears every now and then.”

Before adding, “Thank you for making it bearable and for making it a joyful occasion for all of us.”

Sarah passed away from breast cancer in 2021, and the remaining four singers decided to reunite and go on tour in an effort to pay tribute to their late friend, admitting that they are “doing it for Sarah.”

The first leg of the tour kicked off in Dublin and the iconic band are now making their way across the UK.

Despite the wonderful performances they put on, Girls Aloud have been forced to cut tour prices by 50 percent to fill stadiums and tickets have dropped to just £50.

The move upset enthusiastic fans who had already spent between £58 and £200 on tickets for upcoming UK shows in areas such as Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Aberdeen and London.

The half-price deal will be offered on Ticketmaster from Thursday through next Tuesday.

But one outraged fan wrote on For a better viewing spot for us who paid double. Smoking!!! At least move the people who paid more to the better seats before you do this??!!!’

Another wrote: ‘I got girls tickets out loud two days ago and now the evil Ticketmaster has given them half price. @NadineCoyleDo something now!!!!’

Someone else added: ‘The cheek of the Ticketmaster 50% off girls out loud tickets promo when we were all in the ticket trenches paying a ton a few months ago.’

However, one person stood up for the decision, writing: “I can see both sides of the argument. However, everyone wants to see as full an arena as possible for the girls and it shouldn’t be about money for the fans – at the time you felt it was worth paying?’

The highly anticipated reunion tour was first announced in November 2023, kicking off with two shows in Dublin and Belfast.

A band insider told the Mail on Sunday that the girls were ‘in tears’ after their show in Dublin, in which they paid tribute to their former bandmate Sarah.

When they started, Nadine said, ‘Tonight we’re going to do a duet with Sarah. It will be us, Sarah, you. Let’s do this together.’

That brought tears to many in the sold-out crowd at Dublin’s 3Arena.

As usual, Sarah’s vocals were used and images of her were beamed onto a screen behind.

Together they all sang their cover of I’ll Stand By You, which became their second number one in 2004.

Girls Aloud rose to fame in 2002 when they took part in the ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

They competed for a spot in a girl band and then had to compete against a boy band from the show called One True Voice in the hope that their song would become Christmas number one.

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they scored three more number one hits and twenty top ten hits.

Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.

The Girls Aloud Takeover With Rylan will air on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds on May 27 from 2pm to 4pm.