Nadine Coyle has opened up about the devastating death of her Girls Aloud bandmate, Sarah Harding, who tragically died in 2021 after bravely battling breast cancer
Nadine Coyle has revealed she “refused” to believe Sarah Harding’s tragic prognosis. Sarah died in September 2021 at the age of 39, a year after sharing her diagnosis publicly.
Nadine said she thought it was ‘unfathomable’ that anything serious would happen to Sarah and thought her friend would get better until she was told it would be her last Christmas.
“I was like, ‘Surely somebody has gotten it wrong? Maybe this is all just a dream, actually?’ It wasn’t,” said Nadine in a new interview.
In the final months of her life, Sarah moved to Manchester to be close to her mum and Nadine and a group of Sarah’s friends travelled up to spend quality time with her.
Speaking on the latest episode of Olivia’s House, in partnership with tombla x Breast Cancer Now Nadine said: “We were cooking and we had like other friends around. And I just remember she was told this was going to be her last Christmas.
“So we went and got a Christmas tree. We got everything to decorate the Christmas tree, we got all the food. They had a lovely night to decorate it. And I was like, but that can’t be real. Like surely somebody’s gotten it wrong. Like it can’t be.” She said of Sarah’s tragic prognosis: “What do you mean? There’s no way that that can be real. It’s so huge.
“Unfathomable. It’s like, what do you mean? But there’s no way. It just can’t happen. Just no. I’m just going to refuse to believe that that’s just part of it. Just don’t believe them. Maybe it’s all some sort of big sick joke. Maybe we’re dreaming, you know? And it was like COVID time still. So everything was weird.
“Everything was, you’re like, maybe this is all just a dream, actually, this. But it wasn’t.” Nadine revealed that despite Sarah’s pain, she managed to continue laughing throughout her ordeal. “She was so brave, she was so poised with it all, she was so brave, almost like it didn’t bother her,” she said, adding that Sarah attempted to remain strong for the people around her.
“She was so stoic through it all.” While Sarah had millions of fans who always saw the “Hardcore Harding”, Nadine explained that the singer was the “softest” person, who would always have her eyes looking out for other people.
Sarah tragically died aged just 39, in September 2021, surrounded by her family in Manchester. The group reformed in 2023 and took on their mammoth anniversary tour, celebrating two decades in music. But throughout the show, they honoured Sarah.
Her memory was kept very much alive on their tour, The Girls Aloud Show, with her iconic “Take a walk on the wild side of life,” from Something New being played across the arenas.
As the band wrapped up their performance, a huge screen appeared on stage during The Promise, allowing Sarah to shine once again as she belted out: “So here I am, a walking primrose, wondering when I’m gonna see you again,” as fans and the band cheered for the late star. Moments before the four girls walked off stage, a photograph of Sarah appeared behind them alongside the text: “In loving memory of Sarah Nicole Harding. 17.11.81 05.09.2021.”
But Nadine says she felt Sarah’s presence while the group were on tour, although she says Sarah would have said the band were doing too many dances. Speaking about the group touring again, Nadine explained: “She would have thought it was amazing. She would have said that we were dancing far too much.”
“She would have loved it, she would have had loads of fun, she would have said we were being far too sensible,” she laughed, adding that all four members acknowledged the tour felt “different” without Sarah’s infectious personality around. The day after Sarah’s death, Nadine was performing in Dublin and explained that her headphones “jumped” when the conversation turned to Sarah.
Reflecting on the first time Nadine met Sarah during Popstars: The Rivals, she said of the Mancunian: “She was mad, she was screaming, she had tiny wee bunches, and was like ‘oh woaaah’, and I was like ‘oh God no’, then I saw a completely different side, very sensitive.”
Since Sarah’s death, Girls Aloud joined forces with The Christie to launch The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, introducing mammograms to younger women in a bid to detect the disease much earlier.
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support. The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
