Girls Aloud's Cheryl reveals secret nod to Sarah Harding on tour

Girls Aloud's The Girls Aloud Show tour glitters with many heartfelt tributes to their late bandmate Sarah Harding; from emotional opener Untouchable through to Sarah's iconic verse in The Promise.

To honour her legacy was something Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh set out to do when curating their reunion show, having explained: "One of our main aims on this tour is to do Sarah justice."

And, now, Cheryl's revealed a hidden nod to Sarah fans previously might've missed, in the form of a classic Shakira song.

MORE: The Girls Aloud Show Tour setlist, stage times and more

Before kicking off The Girls Aloud Show, the band's support Mr. Theo gets the crowd hyped-up by playing blasting a bunch of bangers throughout the arena. And the final song before the girls hit the stage - Shakira's 2010 hit Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) - holds a very special meaning.

Speaking to the crowd at their show at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena last night (June 19), Cheryl explained: "That was Sarah's favourite song when she was going through all of her stuff. It'd get her up dancing and singing, she'd be on FaceTime like 'waka waka, eh eh!'.

"It made us happy to see her happy in those darker times, so we wanted the spirit of Sarah to start right at the very beginning.

"And the best bit is, the next thing we hear is you guys roar, and there's nothing better than that sound."

Sarah tragically passed away in September 2021 aged 39, after receiving an advanced stage breast cancer diagnosis in 2020. Since then, the group have worked to raise over £1million for cancer charities, including The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal.

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Ahead of the tour, the group spoke of their plans to 'celebrate' their late bandmate's legacy.

Cheryl said: "Sarah stayed with me for about a week and she was throwing around ideas of how we could celebrate 20 years of Girls Aloud while she was still here.

"At one point, she did say to us: 'Even if I can't make it, I hope you girls do it without me.'"

Kimberley added: "One of our main aims on this tour is to do Sarah justice and give us and our fans that moment to celebrate her. I think they need it, I think we all need it."

Article image: Getty.