Kimberley Walsh: Sarah Harding asked Girls Aloud to reunite

Watch: Kimberley Marsh says Girls Aloud reunion was Sarah Harding's wishes

Kimberley Walsh says late bandmate Sarah Harding asked for a Girls Aloud reunion before she died.

During Wednesday’s edition of BBC’s Morning Live, Walsh told co-host Gethin Jones that the singer, who tragically past last September at the age of 39 after battling breast cancer, had hoped the band would get back together.

Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle recently announced that the band — whose other members are Cheryl and Nicola Roberts — will be reuniting for one night in memory of Harding and to raise for medical equipment that could diagnose cancer sooner.

She said: “We’re planning a night for an event to raise money in honour of Sarah,” Nadine explained. “She’s very much in the forefront of our minds.”

Read more: Kimberley Walsh says dealing with grief over Sarah Harding is 'daily challenge'

Setting the record straight, Walsh confirmed the pop group would not be performing music.

She said today: "I feel like I need to clear this up a little bit. There won’t be a reunion as such, we’re not going to be getting back onstage.

"We still don’t feel ready to get back on stage without Sarah. But we are planning an industry fundraiser for her in her memory to raise as much money as we possibly can for Cancer Research."

Read more: Nadine Coyle says Girls Aloud could reunite for 20th anniversary to honour Sarah Harding

When presenter Jones told the star that getting together again was something Harding was 'keen' for the band to do, she replied: "She did."

"She asked us to do this, so it’s really important for us that we make it a big event, but it’s all about that."

The mother-of-two didn't divulge any specific details about the event, but it will be the first time the chart-toppers would be publicly back together for almost 10 years.

After revealing her cancer diagnosis in 2020, Harding released autobiography Hear Me Out — named after a Girls Aloud single — and released the single 'Wear It Like A Crown', with proceeds going to the The Christie NHS Foundation.

Following her death, her bandmates all paid tributes to her on social media.

Both Coyle and Harding had expressed their interest in a Girls Aloud reunion over the years, but their fellow bandmates including Walsh had always seemed firmly against the move.

Read more: Sarah Harding's 12 greatest moments

In October of last year Walsh also stressed that a reunion was not in the works.

"It’s not really something we’re even thinking about obviously, with the situation as it is," she told The Sun. "No one is even in that headspace right now."

Girls Aloud rose to fame on the reality show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002.

The group split in 2009 and reunited in 2012 for a greatest hits tour and album. They have not performed together since then.

Watch: Girls Aloud stars Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts lead tributes to former bandmate Sarah Harding.