Girls Aloud shared their excitement as they jetted to Dublin for their first reunion tour on Friday night.
The band – consisting of Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – will be kicking off the UK and Ireland tour this weekend much to fans’ delight.
And as they boarded the plane they all posed for a sweet selfie together as the caption read: ‘Ready for take off!’
Shortly before Kimberley, 42, revealed that their rehearsals had been ’emotional’ as it is believed the set with contain a tribute to late band member Sarah Harding who died from breast cancer in 2021.
Sharing snaps from the preparations she penned: ‘Well that’s it. Production rehearsals are done Dublin here we come! We’ve had the BEST time creating this show for you and being back with my girls has been incredibly emotional but soooooo special.
Girls Aloud shared their excitement as they jetted to Dublin for their first reunion tour on Friday night
The band – consisting of Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – will be kicking off the UK and Ireland tour this weekend much to fans’ delight
‘Love you all. Our team of boys dancing with us are honestly incredibly and I can’t wait for you to see them in action!
She added to their creative director Beth Honan: ‘You are a legend and a genuine super hero what a privilege to be here 20 years later doing what we love. Thanks our whole team that have helped put this show together and supported us I appreciate each and every one of you! Let’s do this!’
Reports have suggested that they may end their set with I’ll Stand By You, in tribute to Sarah along with footage on screens.
Nicola, 38, also shared some rehearsal snaps and promised an ‘amazing’ show for fans.
She wrote: ‘That’s it! Rehearsals and production are done. We’ve been in for what feels like every hour to make the show amazing for you. I’ve honestly had the best 5 weeks with the girls.’
She also thanked their creative director and vocal arranger, adding: ‘The best team bringing the best energy. So proud of everyone. One more sleep!’
Meanwhile Nadine posted online: ‘I am full of gratitude & admiration for our entire team!!!! Thank you everyone up to this point!!! Now the real fun begins!’
It comes after the team working with Girls Aloud on the upcoming reunion tour are reportedly getting worried that it could all ‘end in disaster’ if the band clash again.
The girl band famously fell out after they split in 2013, as they publicly disagreed over when and the reasons why they decided to announce a hiatus.
Shortly before Kimberley, 42, revealed that their rehearsals had been ’emotional’ as it is believed the set with contain a tribute to late band member Sarah Harding who died from breast cancer in 2021
Kimberley penned: ‘We’ve had the BEST time creating this show for you and being back with my girls has been incredibly emotional but soooooo special’
Nicola, 38, also shared some rehearsal snaps and promised an ‘amazing’ show for fans
Reports have suggested that they may end their set with I’ll Stand By You, in tribute to Sarah along with footage on screens
Following the tragic loss of their bandmate Sarah Harding aged 39 in 2021, the band put their past issues behind them to reform in memory of the late singer.
However, despite their gung-ho attitude to reuniting for a 30-date tour, insiders are said to be worried that tensions will fray when the pressure of a tour kicks in.
The four women were all pictured arriving at rehearsals for the first time looking slightly solemn last week.
A source told The Sun: ‘It’s no secret that Cheryl and Nadine had a fraught relationship and professional rivalry back in the day- they couldn’t even agree when Girls Aloud split – so now, they’re on best behaviour with the reunion.
‘But behind the scenes a lot of the team are wary they’ll clash again. They both look back and can see they were both at fault, they’ve both matured a lot – and due to professional and personal life challenges they’ve faced since the band, they no longer have the egos or competitiveness they did back then.’
They continued: ‘Cheryl, Nicola and Kimberly are best friends and it seems like they are really trying not to exclude Nadine as they don’t want anything to derail this tour or cause tension – and Nadine is making a huge effort with them too, she’s really gotten to know the grown up versions of them over the last year and become close.
Those close to the band are apparently hoping that their past feuds over who sings what and attracts the most headlines will no longer matter and can be left in the past. MailOnline have reached out to representatives for comment.
Things turned sour between some of the band members when Nadine distanced herself from the group following their split.
After the announcement Nadine took to X – formerly known as Twitter – and wrote: ‘You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business. I couldn’t stop them. I had the best time and want to keep going.’
Cheryl hit back at the allegations and said Nadine was ‘full of s***’ and claimed that she had requested a break in 2009, which began discussions about their break-up.
She added: ‘She was the one who wanted to make a solo record. Which is why we took the hiatus. She wants to come out and say we broke the band up? No! She shouldn’t tell porkie pies.
‘Okay, so do you want us to tell the truth? She wasn’t going to make another Girls Aloud record until she got a solo deal. I feel she held us to ransom and then made her solo record deal.
‘It’s the truth. She’s saying that we broke the band up. So, there you go.’
Kimberley also claimed in her 2013 autobiography, A Whole Lot Of History, that she would never have picked Nadine and Sarah as friends without the band.
Nadine also hit out at the other members for ‘taking their anger out on her’ because she got to sing more on their tracks.
She said: ‘It was fine at the start but there’s always politics in any band. It just happened that I always got more vocals than everybody else, so in terms of people wanting their voice heard, that wasn’t happening.
‘It made people very bitter. They didn’t like that. It’s so sad for me to have to admit this stuff now because for so long, there’s the band, and you want everybody to think we’re best friends and we have pillow fights and, you know, drink milkshakes.
‘That’s what I wanted it to be. I really, really wanted that to be, but it just wasn’t how it was. We’re all very, very different characters.’
Girls Aloud are set to kick off their reunion tour this month, after confirming they would be getting back together last year, marking 21 years since their formation.
However it seems the foursome don’t always see eye to eye after they got into a heated debate during a recent radio interview earlier this month.
The group insisted they ‘don’t do disagreements, just differences in opinions,’ yet things got hilariously chaotic as they joined host Scott Mills on his Radio 2 show.
A video posted on BBC Radio 2’s Instagram page showed the interview descending into chaos after Scott innocently asked the band if they will be performing some new covers on the tour.
Nicola was first to answer, insisting ‘I don’t think we’ve got space,’ only for Cheryl to chime in telling Scott ‘I’ve said it several times, people like it!’
Nadine was in the opposite camp though, interrupting to say: ‘I was dead against it. I’m like we’ve got so many songs of Girls Aloud as our own. Why do we need to be doing it?’
‘But we can add just one random cover, it’s fun!’ Cheryl hit back.
Scott told listeners: ‘You join as there is a slight disagreement with Girls Aloud in between whether they should do covers or just the hits. We’ll be back after this…’
The video then picked up as the girls continued to talk over one another, with Scott explaining: ‘Girls Aloud are here and they’re still discussing whether they’re going to do a cover version or just their hits. Have we come to an agreement yet?’
An exasperated Cheryl continued: ‘I’m not saying we shouldn’t be doing any,’ before pleading ‘guys’ when she was interrupted again.
Mediating, Scott told Cheryl to speak, who explained ‘I think we should do all and… for the sake of three minutes more.’
‘But how long’s the show? Five hours?’ pointed out Scott, prompting Nadine to declare ‘exactly!’
‘We’re going to have to raise hands again,’ Scott quipped.
In announcing the tour in November, the foursome revealed the group have not recorded new music but just want to celebrate their back catalogue.
Cheryl wowed in a sexy plunging red dress as she joined her Girls Aloud bandmates posing in a new promo snap on Tuesday
The group are known for their dazzling matching costumes on stage (pictured with the late Sarah Harding in 2013)
Cheryl revealed they had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah – who died in September 2021 – was diagnosed with cancer.
She said in a statement: ‘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.’
The group plan to use the tour to ‘celebrate’ their late friend.
