Three of the surviving members of Girls Aloud have taken part in a charity run in memory of former bandmate Sarah Harding.
Singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts paid tribute to Harding, who died of breast cancer last year, at a 5km run in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday. Kimberly Walsh, the fourth bandmate, was one of many people who joined in remotely.
Harding died in September 2021 at the age of 39, after revealing that she had breast cancer that had spread to other parts of her body.
Speaking at the Race For Life For Sarah, held to celebrate Sarah’s life and raise money for breast cancer, Cheryl said it still “doesn’t feel like it’s gone”.
“I have never experienced or anticipated this grief,” he said. “I lost my grandparents when I was younger and I lost a friend when I was younger but nothing like this, the feeling of shock and disbelief and it still lingers now to be honest. I still can’t believe it’s real.”
Girls Aloud, an award-winning British girl band, formed on the TV show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and had hits such as Sound of the Underground and Love Machine. The group disbanded in 2013, and all of its members went on to have successful solo careers in music and television.
Speaking at the event, Coyle told the PA news agency he was “in denial” about Harding’s illness.
“This time last year we were really coming out,” he said. “We all met last year. She was there and we were talking and she didn’t even look that sick.
“I was in denial the whole time and I was the friend who said, ‘Oh, everything’s going to be okay,’ you know, I was in complete denial until the day he died.”
Roberts, Coyle and Cheryl were among hundreds of people who ran together in Hyde Park, wearing pink Race for Life T-shirts.
Walsh joined the group remotely, having been unable to travel to London, and completed the run with her husband, Justin Scott, and a group of friends.
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Paying tribute to Harding’s “electric” energy, Roberts added that the group didn’t feel like a band without her.
“Sarah’s energy was like fireworks, so I feel this huge difference in energy when she’s not there,” he said.
“I think for us right now, we don’t feel like Girls Aloud. We don’t feel like a band without Sarah. She, like I said now, was such a big part of our energy that it doesn’t feel like that.”
The band’s fundraising efforts will conclude with a gala dinner at the end of the year.