The iconic girl group has been teasing a big announcement for the past week and fans can finally scream for joy as Girls Aloud are going on tour.
After teasing with tiny countdown clips, it’s official – Nadine Coyle, 38, Kimberley Walsh, 41, Nicola Roberts, 38, and Cheryl, 40, are reuniting.
Rising to the tops of the charts, and our hearts, in the early 00s, fans have been impatiently waiting for the group to confirm what exactly they have up their sleeves.
Apparently, that is an entire arena tour for the UK and Ireland in May and June of next year with tickets going on sale on Friday, December 1 – we can’t wait.
Fans had been anticipating possible new music from the group who haven’t released anything in years however, it looks like for now this is not on the cards.
Sadly, the band will be missing a beloved member, Sarah Harding, who died two years ago from breast cancer.
Sarah was on all the girls minds as they excitedly announced the reunion tour, with Cheryl who teased the final hint saying: ‘We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago.
‘The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate. But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon.
‘But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later.
‘That’s a big honour in lots of ways.’
Nadine added: ‘Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people’s lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people. So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste.
‘We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.’
Girls Aloud had a meteoric rise to stardom on ITV’s Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, storming the charts with hits like Can’t Speak French, The Show, and Love Machine.
In 2009, the group went on a hiatus before returning for their 10 year anniversary in 2012 and officially splitting the following year.
Since then the women have been pursuing solo projects but the loss of Sarah so close to their 20th anniversary came as a shock to them all.
Kimberley shared: ‘Over the last year, we’ve felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group. And I guess it’s ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.’
Reunions over the years have been few and far between with the remaining members attending the Primrose Ball in Sarah’s honour last October.
They were then brought together once more by the wedding of publicist to the stars, Simon Jones, which thrilled fans.
'The Girls Aloud Show' Arena Tour Dates
The announced dates for the Girls Aloud Show tour are:
- 18 May – 3Arena Dublin
- 20 May – SSE Arena Belfast
- 23 May – Manchester AO Arena
- 24 May – Manchester AO Arena
- 27 May – Cardiff Utilita Arena
- 31 May – Newcastle Utilita Arena
- 1 June – Newcastle Utilita Arena
- 4 June – Aberdeen P+J Live
- 8 June – Glasgow OVO Hydro
- 12 June – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
- 15 June – Leeds First Direct Arena
- 18 June – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
- 22 June – London The O2
- 23 June – London The O2
- 29 June – Liverpool M+S Bank Arena
Nicola, who kicked off the countdown, added: ‘I think what’s really encouraging is that whenever people ask us about reuniting it’s not, “Would you guys ever do it?” but “When are you guys gonna do it?”
‘To know we still have that love from our fans and people who watched us grow up gives us the confidence to do the tour. It will be massive celebration of everything we’ve done up to this point. We want people to leave being like, “Wow, I’ve just had one of the best nights of my life”.’
Tickets will go on pre-sale on Wednesday 29th November at 9am, with the general on sale Friday 1st December at 9am, all via girlsaloud.com.
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