Girls Aloud reunion has celebs in tears 3 years on from Sarah's tragic death

Girls Aloud made their comeback this year after more than a decade away from the stage - but triumph was mixed with tragedy as the foursome were mourning the loss of their fifth band member, Sarah Harding. Ailing Sarah had been in agony with a painful lump on her breast, but had ignored the problem due to the Covid lockdowns - and by the time she sought help, her cancer was too advanced for her to be saved.

She died in 2021, aged just 39 - but not before asking bandmate Cheryl Cole to vow she would continue performing with the other remaining three after her death. True to her word, the foursome returned to the stage at a special 02 Priority gig at London's 02 Shepherd Bush Empire last night, following their British reunion tour.

Rita Ora was in attendance, going braless in a sparkly sheer dress which left very little to the imagination. Despite the outrageous outfit, however, there were moments of serious contemplation too, when the songstress was seen wiping tears from her eyes.

It is believed that she'd become emotional over Sarah's death during the performance - and her husband, film-maker Taika Waititi was seen gently rubbing her arm to comfort her. Meanwhile, ex-Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts - who now lives in the UK and co-hosts the Heart FM breakfast show alongside Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston - was also present at the concert.

Just a few miles away, her ex-boyfriend Giovanni Pernice was performing with Anton du Beke on the pair's Together tour at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - but Ashley chose not to go along, opting to watch Girls Aloud instead. Other celebrity guests there on the night included Graham Norton and Rylan Clark, with the latter having described himself as a "super-fan".

Back in May, he hosted a special Bank Holiday programme devoted exclusively to the group on BBC Radio 2.

The girls had addressed every pivotal moment in their career from the moment they first won the reality show Pop Stars: The Rivals way back in 2002 to the present day.

They also paid tribute to their beloved Sarah, who'd had a very special role in the group right from the beginning.

The concert, which was available only to 02 and Virgin Media customers, was a huge success, and is one in a series of recent reunion shows.

At one of those previous shows, Cheryl had been forced to address comments she previously made - which have now gone viral - vowing she'd never do a reunion.

In a clip from Girls Aloud: Off The Record, she insisted adamantly: "There'll be no reunions... Could you imagine? 30-odd-year-old 'I'm just a Love Machine' nah." (sic)

Then at one of the reunion shows in Liverpool last month - on her 41st birthday - she admitted: "Ok, you might have seen a video of me floating around that is of me saying I would never perform Love Machine in my thirties."

She continued: "Ok but if we're going to go there, last tour I was 29 - today I'm 41! I never performed Love Machine in my 30s, HA! Let's go, do we have any love machines in the house tonight?"

Then she and the band launched into their much-loved hit song - a whole two decades since they first released it.