Kimberley Walsh is shocked at how much she cares about Nadine Coyle

Kimberley Walsh has admitted to being surprised at how much she cares about former bandmate Nadine Coyle while watching I’m a Celebrity.

The pair were in Girls Aloud together for 11 years, but since their split in 2013 there have often been rumours that best mates Walsh, Cheryl, and Nicola Roberts did not get on with co-stars Coyle and Sarah Harding.

Read more: Nadine Coyle hasn’t spoken to Girls Aloud co-stars for six years

During an interview on Loose Women on Monday, Walsh said that she had been shocked by how much she cared about whether Coyle was getting on well as a campmate in the ITV jungle-based show.

Talking about reports that she, Cheryl and Roberts had a WhatsApp group to vote for Coyle to be put up for trials, Walsh said: “It is completely untrue and actually, it did surprise me and Cheryl, our reaction to it. She texted me saying, ‘I’m absolutely crying my eyes out, this is awful’.

“I just don’t like the negativity, especially because I want her to do well and I’m impressed that she’s doing so great.”

She admitted that there was some truth to not all of Girls Aloud being best mates: “It’s true, there’s a genuine real connection between us three which just happened to be, whereas with Sarah and Nadine it was more of a work relationship.

“But it’s almost like family, there are people in your family you don’t see all the time but if you had to watch them on TV going through something like that, you would feel for them.

“It actually surprised me how much I really do care, it’s nice.”

Read more: Nadine Coyle reveals anxiety since becoming a mum

Walsh added of the launch episode which saw a tearful Coyle complete a skydive: “I couldn’t actually believe the reaction that I had - I suddenly started filling up, I was streaming with tears...gosh, you just realise how much you care for people in those moments because I knew how much of a big deal it was for her.”

The singer has recently starred in Big The Musical with former The Wanted star Jay McGuiness, and said she thought there was some sexism in how band rifts were reported.

She said: “We talk about this a lot - no one cares what went on with them, with boys they’re not interested, but with girls they constantly want to find those negativities.

“I’m a real girls’ girl, so I don’t like it.”