Girls Aloud lift the lid on upcoming reunion tour and will feature countless nods to their career
GIRLS ALOUD are raring to get going on their huge 30-date UK tour next month, 11 years after they last hit the road.
And Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts are planning to revisit some of their styles from previous tours for the new shows — so expect retro looks such as the schoolgirl vibe in my picture on the right . . .
This week the group had a costume fitting, and a source said: “This tour is a celebration of Girls Aloud’s music and a tribute to late bandmate Sarah Harding, so it will be packed with nostalgia.
“They have been taking trips down memory lane by looking at pictures from their old tours and they are using their outfits from back then as inspiration.
“Some of the old looks were really sexy, including their Gaultier-inspired corset dresses and the bright red sequined gowns, and they want to make sure there are nods to these.
“It’s been so exciting for them to start putting the finishing touches on the tour and see it all come together.”
The girls are also promising their most ambitious staging yet, and Nicola confirmed: “This is our biggest set so far — it is very special.
“There’s a really super- special area called the Gift Wrap Kitty Cat area, where the fans are sort of inside the show almost, because of how the stage is set.”
Cheryl added: “It’s the first time we’ve done anything like that.
“It will be nice because whoever’s in the Gift Wrap Kitty Cat zone, it’s phenomenal. We can really communicate with them, like, close.
“I think because so much has gone on between us, now we just want to do the most. We want to be extra.”
Yesterday on Scott Mills’s Radio 2 show Cheryl said getting back into the groove had been a piece of cake.
She added: “It’s funny, because it’s like muscle memory. We’ve done it, it’s so ingrained and we did it so many times on different tours, the same choreography, your body remembers even before your brain catches up.”
Kimberley added: “All the hits mean something to us too, so they have to be there.”
In all, Girls Aloud have had 21 Top Ten singles — including four No1s — so they’ve got a pretty impressive back catalogue to work with.
Going down a Stormzy… in Romford
SHOPPERS in Romford got a surprise when Stormzy and Headie One took over the High Street to film the video for their new track, Cry No More.
My exclusive snaps show the pair rapping as a chaotic scene plays out around them, including some lardy builders having a scrap and some kids nicking a bike.
Onlookers in East London told me Stormzy and Headie took time out to talk to fans who watched them making the video, out in a couple of weeks.
Rain stopped play at times too, but Stormzy, rather comically, had a flunky holding his brolly for him. Hope he’s not got too big for his boots!
The duo last collaborated on Headie’s 2020 track Ain’t It Different, also with AJ Tracey.
It’s great to see them back together but there’s one little change they might need to make in the edit.
The 217 Lordship Lane bus in the video is a route in Waltham Cross . . . 22 miles from Romford.
Chloe in race for pop fame
AFTER signing her first record deal aged 14, Chloe Stroll put her pop career on hold while her family moved from Canada to Europe to help her brother Lance make it big on the F1 race circuit.
And now he’s a celebrated driver, she has returned to music.
In an exclusive chat, Chloe, whose new single Dizzy is out now, said: “When my family moved to Europe, my studies were the focus.
“I put music on the back-burner.”
Chloe – backed by Lance, her snowboarding champ hubby Scotty James, mum Claire Anne and dad Lawrence, owner of Aston Martin’s F1 team – staged a great gig at London’s Arts Club on Wednesday.
And she’s already piecing together material for an album.
Chloe said: “We are starting to work on the record. I am sure I’ll have 50 songs and need a year to cut them down.
“For now, I am enjoying releasing music and enjoying the reaction.”
Closing night
SHERIDAN SMITH’s chaotic musical Opening Night has met a disastrous end – closing two months early.
I told last week how the show was in trouble after a series of bad reviews and a struggle to sell tickets and now the worst fears of bosses have come true, as they are abandoning the production.
Despite the slating which the West End musical received, there were nothing but glowing things said about Sheridan, who was singled out as one of the only great elements about it.
But not even her star power could save it and it will now close on May 18, instead of July 27 as originally intended.
Given it only opened at London’s Gielgud Theatre last month, that’s a pretty dire outcome.
Very few productions actually have their run cut short, but it sounds as though those in charge would only have been losing money – and a lot of it – if they hadn’t given up on it.
Anyone who has already bought tickets for the axed shows will be contacted about a refund.
Director and writer Ivo Van Hove said: “It is always sad when a show closes early but I know that Opening Night will live long in the memories of those who saw it and made it.”
IF I were Roman Kemp I would be enjoying the break in my schedule after a decade of early mornings on Capital FM.
But rather than put his feet up, Roman has jumped straight back on the DJ decks – this time alongside his chart-topping dad Martin Kemp.
The duo blasted out some of the nation’s best- loved hits as they celebrated a £4million revamp of Vision Express’ flagship Oxford Street store.
Roman and his dad . . . now that’s a sight for sore eyes.
You Havana tipple, Camila?
GIVEN that Havana is one of her biggest hits, I thought Camila Cabello might be more fond of a Havana Club when it came to her top tipple.
But the singer has instead signed a deal with Bacardi rum and posed in this outfit in a new advert for the spirit.
The ad is set to her latest single I Luv It, which features US rapper Playboy Carti. I’ll raise a glass to that.
New Dua track is best yet
SHE has already released two great singles, Houdini and Training Season, from her upcoming album but I think Dua Lipa’s new tune Illusion is my favourite yet.
On the track, out now, Dua, inset, sings: “I’ve been known to miss a red flag, I’ve been known to put my lover on a pedestal.
“In the end those things just don’t last, and it’s time I take my rose-coloured glasses off.”
Amen. The track leads a raft of releases including Mistake from Mimi Webb, which is the first song from her as-yet-untitled second record, while Kelly Jones has dropped Monsters In The House and Zayn has put out Alienated.
Promising young Brit Fred Roberts has just launched his brilliant debut EP, Sound Of My Youth, while twin sisters Say Lou Lou have dropped their new EP, Dust Pt 1.
And All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis has put out the video for her single Good Mourning, featuring Shola Ama and General Levy.
Olly tops bill for pal Caz
THEY were the closest of friends and now Olly Murs is going to honour the late Caroline Flack in the best way he can.
Olly is going to headline Flackstock this summer, the festival created by her friends and family.
The Heart Skips A Beat singer will top the bill at the event at Englefield House in Berkshire on July 22, to raise much-needed funds for mental health charities.
Olly, who joins a line-up featuring Shaznay Lewis, Chesney Hawkes and Tom Walker, said: “It’s going to be amazing to be back at Flackstock this year.
“For the past two years I’ve been there for the closing of the night and performed Sweet Caroline.
“But this year we are doing a full set for the crowd, and I can’t wait to perform at this day festival in Caroline’s memory.
“This isn’t just a gig – it’s something that’s raised nearly half a million pounds for four brilliant charities and it’s a pleasure to be there to help raise even more for them on behalf of Caz.”
The line-up for Chris Evans’s CarFest, taking place in Hampshire from August 23 to 25, has also been expanded, with Kula Shaker, Damian Lewis, Richard Ashcroft and Jake Shears on the bill.