Cheryl has revealed that a terrifying moment from a ghost-hunting TV special helps her remember her friend and Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding, who died in 2021 at the age of 39 after a battle with breast cancer.
Cheryl and Sarah first met in 2002 when they both appeared on the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals. They auditioned separately and were placed into Girls Aloud alongside Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle. The group won the show as their debut single Sound of the Underground reached number one on the UK Christmas charts.
The Ghost Hunting Special
In 2006, the band took part in a TV special called Ghost Hunting with Girls Aloud. The show saw all the girls, except for Nadine, go ghost hunting with Yvette Fielding, holding seances and working with Ouija boards.
In a now iconic moment, Cheryl got impatient whilst waiting for a ghost to make themselves known and fumed: "If you're in here, tap the f***ing table." As a loud bang rang around the room, Cheryl screamed in fear.
Cheryl's Memory of Sarah
Cheryl told Betches UK that the moment made her think of Sarah. "Sarah never let me live that down," she said with a smile. "She went on about that for years. The woman we were with, Yvette, was going on, I'm not kidding, for about an hour, saying 'Squire, if you're here, could you tap the table? To the point where I got fed up."
Cheryl has previously said that Sarah's death "changed her perspective" on life. She told Mail Online: "A lot of conversations we had before she left really sparked a different perspective for me, and I'll carry that.
"She wasn't ready to leave and I think, 'well I'm still here.' I've got the gift of life to still live, and I'll do it with her in mind. It does shift a lot of things in your own heart."
She added that Sarah's death had brought her closer to her other bandmates, as they "appreciate" each other with a "different depth" amid their loss.
First Memories and Later Life
Elsewhere in the Betches UK chat, Cheryl shared her first memory of being in Girls Aloud. "[It was] the video for Sound of the Underground," she said. "It was filmed in a warehouse and it was so cold. And it was a 24 hour shoot so we were baptised by fire!"
Since being in Girls Aloud, Cheryl went on to have a successful solo career, both as a singer and a TV star. Cheryl was on The X Factor for years, where she met Liam Payne. The Geordie star and One Direction member dated from 2016 to 2018 and welcomed a child together in March 2017. Liam died in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
After his death, Cheryl released a statement describing her grief. "As I try to navigate this earth shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I'd like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being.
"Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our seven-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again."
