Singer and TV personality Cheryl has said she wants to remember her late friend and Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding "before her illness". It comes as it was announced this week that Girls Aloud are hosting a fundraising gala for cancer research this October.
In a heartfelt piece for British Vogue, Cheryl revealed that Sarah, who died last September aged 39 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, had hoped to attend the event in person. She recalled how Sarah had told her she wanted to "thank" all those who had helped her following her diagnosis.
"I asked her over and over again how we could help. Was there anything she truly wanted or needed?" Cheryl said in her article: “Finally she said to me: ‘I would love you to create an evening, a gala of some kind for me. If I am here and can attend I will be able to thank those who have helped me through all of this, and pay that forward in a way that will help others when I’m gone'.
Cheryl recalled how sadly Sarah passed just eight weeks later. Since then, all of the Girls Aloud members have been "rallying together" to make "Sarah's last wish come true".
The 39-year-old former X Factor judge added how she wanted to “move forward" and remember her late friend before she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She explained: "Although memories of that time do exist and are hard to shake, they hold no weight against the light she so brightly shone in the years beforehand.
“I have many, many more of those years to hold onto, and that is my intention. Her fun, bubbly side, her close-to-the-edge risky side, and her deeply soft and vulnerable side are some of the intricacies that made up Sarah in all of her glory.
Cheryl said she wants to "commemorate" Sarah, by thanking all those who "kept her going in her darkest of days and nights". Alongside Girls Aloud bandmates; Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts - they will all host The Primrose Ball.
The event is taking place at The Londoner hotel in central London on October 8. Fearne Cotton and broadcaster Johnny Gould will be hosting the auction and there will be performances from Years & Years' Olly Alexander, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson and Chrissie Hynde.
The charity gala will raise funds for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK, as part of the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal. The Primrose Ball has been named after Sarah's lyrics from the girl group's hit song 'The Promise' in which she sings “here I am walking Primrose”.
