Girls Aloud fans slam Ticketek as they call the pre-sale an ‘utter shambles’ and give up trying to get tickets to reunion tour after site glitches

Disappointed Girls Aloud fans are calling the reunion tour pre-sale release an ‘utter shambles’ after ticketing website Ticketek crashed.

Dozens of fans took to

Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh will hit the road in May and June 2024 to mark 21 years this month since they and the late Sarah Harding won Popstars: The Rivals.

Sarah tragically passed away in September 2021 at the age of 39, after a battle with breast cancer.

Tickets for their UK shows were released on Wednesday, with fans vying for the chance to see the band perform again.

But many were left disappointed – some ‘absolutely disgusted’ – over the outage on the Ticketek website.

One wrote: ‘Three times I had selected seats and had to settle before the timeout expired, each time with worse seats than before. When you are in the checkout phase, the timer should definitely be reset! Have given up now, absolutely disgusted with the experience here!’

Others said: ‘Anyone trying to get Girls Aloud tickets should disable Ticketek and return to the pre-sale link in the email. Took me to Ticketmaster and got tickets straight away, no queue at all!! (By the gods, but I refuse to pay £100+).

‘@ticketek_uk was a total disaster with the #girlsaloud presale, I got tickets but the page timed out when I was logging in and then went to the payment page despite logging in before I clicked to search for tickets. I’m not happy that I’m not in that stupid lounge anymore.”

‘Don’t use ticketek, use ticketmaster!!! I stood in line for 2 hours at ticketek, but at ticketmaster I went straight through!’.

MailOnline has contacted Tickettek for comment.

Ticketek is an Australian event ticketing company and a rival to Ticketmaster.

Pre-sales started at 9am on November 29 and fans took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their desperation for tickets as they eagerly queued.

One wrote: ‘If I don’t get Girls Aloud tickets Christmas will be cancelled,’ while a second said: ‘The odds are ever in your favour.’

A third shared a photo of their many devices logged in as they entered the presale, writing: “Stressed, depressed, girls out loud obsessed.”

Another joked: ‘Good luck to my fellow Hunger Games participants fighting for Girls Aloud tickets,’ and a fifth wrote: ‘I’m going to battle for Girls Aloud tickets. see you soon.’

Other overjoyed fans also took to social media just minutes after pre-sales started to confirm they had secured tickets.

Ticket prices start at £48.50 for the tour, while mid-tier tickets cost £60 and upper-tier tickets are available for £85 at regional locations and £95 in London.

There are also a small number of VIP tickets available for £185 at regional locations and £195 in London, which come with merchandise and allow fans to sit in the pit or in the first five rows.

While pre-sales are already underway, general sales will be on Friday, December 1 from 9am and all tickets can be purchased via girlsaloud.com.

Excitement is building for the tour, which will see the girls perform 15 shows across the UK and Ireland, the first of which kicks off in Dublin in May.

They will also visit Wales and Scotland before finishing in England, with the final show in Liverpool on June 29.

During the tour, the band will provide fans with a whole dose of nostalgia by performing their most beloved hits, as the group has not recorded any new music, but simply wants to celebrate their back catalogue.

The group has said they plan to use the tour to “celebrate” their late friend Sarah and will keep her vocals the same.

Cheryl revealed that in her final months before her tragic death, Sarah expressed her wish that the girls would one day be reunited without her.

Speak with British Vogueshe described the moment Sarah gave her blessing for a Girls Aloud reunion, admitting at the time that she had couldn’t fathom the idea of ​​losing her friend and was still waiting for a ‘miracle’.

She said she [Sarah] turned to me once and said, “You know, if I’m not here, you girls have to do something.”

“But when you come face to face with someone who is dying… We thought a miracle would happen. We all thought maybe we could do something together.”

They also confirmed that Sarah’s vocals would remain unchanged throughout the tour, and that they would not reprise her ‘iconic’ solo parts.

Nadine explained, “She [Sarah’s vocal parts] will remain the same, her singing parts are big parts like ‘Walking Primrose’, she is the actual walking primrose and ‘take a walk on the wild side’, she has some iconic Sarah’s parts. They’ll be Sarah’s pieces. Why should we? They are her pieces.”

When asked if the foursome would include Sarah on the tour, Nadine confirmed: ‘Absolutely, she’s such a big part of the music, such a big part of the group, the visuals, everything that makes Girls Aloud what it is.

“This is so different as a foursome, such a different experience, as much as we can bring Sarah in and bring her energy and everything she brought.”

During an appearance on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp on Thursday, Cheryl added: “I’m not sure it will ever feel right. It will never feel like what it felt like, but we do our best to make it as magical as possible for her. With her in mind.’

Nicola added: “People say ‘Sorry to ask’ but we want to be asked because we have to keep her memory alive. She is still part of us and part of this.”