Girls Aloud kick off their reunion tour with emotional tribute to Sarah Harding

The first night of the reunion tour for Girls Aloud saw the band members pay their respects to their late bandmate, Sarah Harding.

Making their appearance some 30 minutes past the expected time due to motorway issues in Dublin, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl excited energised fans with their intro song Untouchable from individual podiums.

Sarah Harding, who sadly passed away at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with cancer, is the main motivation behind this reunion tour. During the glitzy show, a touching duet was performed, featuring the vocals of Harding on live stage as she sang 'I'll Stand By You', and was captured in numerous fan-shared social media clips.

They also belted out one of their top tracks, The Promise, and turned their backs to the audience mid-performance to watch a clip of Harding performing the song solo.

Announcing on the Girls Aloud Twitter, the band said: "Show 1 done. Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour."

Girls Aloud, winners of Popstars: The Rivals, formed in 2002 and rose to fame boasting four UK number one singles and winning an esteemed Brit award for their song The Promise.

Their previous reunion happened on their 10th anniversary in 2012 with new music while the second reunion was slated for their 20th year together before Harding found out about her cancer diagnosis.

Prior to making their entrance at the 3Arena in Dublin, an "updated stage time" was provided by the group. The band alerted fans about their delay due to "Dublin motorway closures", shifting their on-stage appearance to 9.15pm, a half hour later than expected.

Still, avid followers like Aaron O'Regan from Waterford, Ireland, told the PA news agency: "I'm really excited for it! My boyfriend got us tickets last year for our first anniversary so it's going to be a great night."

Enthusiastically, he added: "We love Girls Aloud, it's fantastic to see them back together again and touring."

In anticipation of the night's fun, he revealed, "My boyfriend even got us T-shirts for tonight, it's going to be so fun!"

The official Girls Aloud Twitter posted an update ahead of the show stating: "Rehearsals? Done. Choreography? Ready. Outfits? Fitted. Girls? Aloud."

Further adding: "...We've been working so hard to make this show special for all of you."

After performing two consecutive nights at Dublin's 3Arena, the girls are scheduled to perform at Belfast's SSE Arena on Monday and Tuesday, then moving on to Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday.

A clear indication of their growing demand was when six extra dates were added in November to their 2024 UK and Ireland arena tour following "unprecedented demand" after ticket pre-sales.

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