Girls Aloud’s Kimberley Walsh rules out reunion: ‘It would be too painful’
Kimberley Walsh has ruled out a Girls Aloud reunion following Sarah Harding’s tragic death.
Speaking on This Morning on Monday (17 October), Kimberley revealed that although ex-bandmates Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle are “grateful for the time that we had”, a reunion would be “too painful” without Sarah.
Sarah passed away in September of 2021 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, which eventually spread to other parts of her body. She was 39.
The surviving members of Girls Aloud recently got back together for a fundraising ball in Sarah’s memory.
The group will soon celebrate their 20th anniversary and fans have speculated that they may reform as a musical act to mark it.
But speaking to Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, Kimberley said “it wouldn’t feel right” to perform without Sarah.
“We’re not really doing anything to celebrate that for obvious reasons, but what’s been really nice is we’ve been able to still come together and do some really positive fundraising for Sarah’s charity,” Kimberley said.
“It’s been incredible. We’ve funded a whole research project that she wanted us to raise money for. We are really proud of the fact we’ve managed to do that for her.”
The band will be re-releasing their debut single “Sound of the Underground” to mark the anniversary, with all proceeds “going to breast cancer research and the hospital that looked after Sarah”.
Kimberley, Cheryl, Nicola and Nadine recently held The Primrose Gala, a fundraising event in memory of Harding.
“…We were all together, and lots of our GA [Girls Aloud] family were there and it just felt really special to have that night, but I just feel for all of us, [an onstage reunion] would just be too painful,” Kimberley said
The Gala was named after Sarah’s iconic “Here I am, walking Primrose” line in the Girls Aloud song “The Promise”.
It was hosted by Fearne Cotton and featured performances from Years & Years’s Olly Alexander, Ricky Wilson and Chrissy Hynde.
The group also hosted a Race For Life over the summer hosted a Race For Life over the summer, and earlier this week unveiled a nightwear collaboration with Primark with proceeds going to charity.