Girls Aloud share untold Sarah Harding memories as they release Chemistry deluxe album on 20th anniversary (EXCLUSIVE)
The special album drops this Friday, giving fans a chance to revisit one of Girls Aloud’s defining eras while remembering Harding's enduring presence in the group’s story
By Callum Wells
Girls Aloud are marking 20 years of their third album Chemistry with a deluxe edition, out this Friday, and the group have shared new reflections remembering the late Sarah Harding in the album’s sleeve notes.
In the booklet, shared exclusively with Attitude, Nadine Coyle recalls of a promo trip to Australia and New Zealand. “Sarah chatted to me non-stop for 33 hours when we flew there including all through the layover in Dubai,” she jokes. “I remember thinking, ‘Where on earth does this girl get her energy from?!'”
The Chemistry era was also captured in the six-part E4 documentary Girls Aloud: Off the Record, which followed the group filming the Whole Lotta History video in Paris, rehearsing for their first arena tour, and promoting the album overseas. Lines from the series, including “What is wrong with me?” and “Are you the mam?” have become part of Girls Aloud lore.
“She knew all the lines that fans love to quote,” Kimberley Walsh on Sarah Harding’s love of Off the Record
“I came across it randomly on YouTube a few years ago and couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Kimberley Walsh says. “I was literally crying with laughter and ended up re-watching the whole thing!”
Since Harding passed away in September 2021, the series has taken on even greater significance. “Sarah loved it and knew all the lines that fans love to quote,” Kimberley adds. “She’d be like, ‘Cheryl, you will not believe what you’re gonna say next!'”
Harding died at the age of 39 following a battle with breast cancer, which she had publicly revealed in August 2020. In her memoir Hear Me Out, published in early 2021, she shared that the disease had advanced and that her prognosis was terminal. Her openness about her diagnosis was praised for raising awareness and encouraging others to seek early medical advice
Cheryl also reflects on the group’s busy working life at the time. Filming the Biology music video was a “24-hour job” that was “brutal” on her feet. “The directors were telling me ‘jump to the side, jump to the side!’ and I was like, ‘Guys, I’m in literally in stilettos,'” she says. “When I think back to that time, I picture the five of us tottering down TV studio corridors in stilettos – it was hilarious!”
The Chemistry 20th anniversary deluxe edition drops this Friday
Nicola Roberts praises the track Biology, calling it “pure genius” and marvelling at how the production team pieced together six different sections into one track.
She says, “I still don’t know how Brian Higgins and the production team managed to curate the backing track so that all those sections flow into each other. Because we were onto our third album together by this point, it’s almost like they were showing off!”
The Chemistry 20th anniversary deluxe edition drops this Friday, giving fans a chance to revisit one of Girls Aloud’s defining eras while remembering Sarah’s enduring presence in the group’s story. The reissue will be available as a 3CD set and, for the first time, on vinyl – including a limited pink vinyl and exclusive picture disc.
It features beloved singles like Biology, Whole Lotta History, and Long Hot Summer, alongside four previously unreleased tracks from the Girls Aloud vaults: Naked In the Shower, You Go Too Fast (Demo), Watch Me Go (We’re Disco), and a newly expanded version of Singapore featuring a previously unheard pre-chorus by Harding.
Fans can also enjoy remixes by Xenomania and a club-ready version of Singapore by Jon Shave, known for his work on Charli XCX’s BRAT. The edition’s sleeve notes also include unseen archival images and analysis by pop commentator Nick Levine.