Nicola Roberts has 'lost a bit of herself' following Sarah Harding's death

Nicola Roberts has admitted to still being devastated over the death of Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding saying she has 'lost a bit of herself'.

The former Girls Aloud star, 36, said that she thought of the late singer — who died at the age of 39 after battling breast cancer — as a sister and is still struggling with the loss.

When asked by Laura Whitmore, on the Hear Her Voice podcast, how she was coping, Roberts replied: "I’m gonna cry."

Read more: Nadine Coyle says Girls Aloud could reunite for 20th anniversary

"Even with sisters through birth, you don’t truly experience... I mean listen, like we went to the moon together. So somebody becomes such an extension of who you are.

"To then not have that person there… it’s just like you’ve lost a bit of yourself. It’s really s***."

She later revealed that, despite the reported rift between the group that split in 2013, they were still close.

When asked if she was regularly in touch with the other member, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle, she replied: "Yeah, absolutely, 100%. I mean, my god, there’s so much to say and unpack."

The star also revealed that all the band members have been affected by the passing, explaining: "Everybody deals with loss differently.

"I’m very much somebody who needs to process stuff by myself so I will just sort of go quiet and process it as much as I can alone. Some people might say that’s really unhealthy and some people need to just talk and talk and talk it out.

"I’m not one of them people because, it’s hard as well because, like I said earlier, only the other four know.

"So you’re talking to people who weren’t there. And they might ask a question which really infuriates you at the time because you think how can you not understand that? What perspective has that even come from?

Read more: Sarah Harding's 12 greatest moments

"So I think it’s best to – unless I’m talking to the four girls, sorry, unless I’m talking to the other three girls – I just feel like I don’t need to talk about it to anyone else because they don’t get it."

Fellow bandmate Walsh previously said that grieving for Harding is a “daily challenge”.

“Until you’re actually experiencing something like this with somebody who was close to you, it’s impossible to imagine what it’s going to feel like, she told Psychologies.

“And I honestly still can’t work out how you ever truly accept it.”

Walsh, 40, said that for her, dealing with her grief means “checking in with everyone, especially Sarah’s mum” on a regular basis.

“It’s going to take time, and it’s very, very tough,” she said.

"So I think it’s best to – unless I’m talking to the four girls, sorry, unless I’m talking to the other three girls – I just feel like I don’t need to talk about it to anyone else because they don’t get it."

“I can’t lie, it absolutely knocked us all for six and the grieving is a daily challenge,” said the mum-of-three.

Harding's mother Marie was the first to announce the tragic news of her daughter's death last September. Roberts shared a tribute a week later as did the other girls.

Watch: Kimberley Walsh says it “wouldn’t be right” to reunite Girls Aloud for their 20th anniversary