EXCLUSIVERita Ora wipes away tears during Girls Aloud's emotional tribute to late bandmate Sarah Harding

By Milly Veitch and Hannah Mcdonald For Mailonline 00:32 03 Jul 2024, updated 01:58 03 Jul 2024

Rita Ora was seen becoming visibly emotional on Tuesday night, as she watched Girls Aloud perform a tribute to Sarah Harding during their show at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire.

The singer, 33, attended the exclusive gig with her husband Taika Waititi and broke down in tears during the band's moving tribute to Sarah - who tragically passed away from breast cancer in 2021 at the age of 39.

Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl, and Kimberley Walsh reformed in honour of their 20th anniversary, kicking off a reunion tour in May that came to a close on Sunday night.

And in between energetically performing their nostalgic pop hits, the group have honoured their late bandmate throughout the tour, with several touching tributes in their shows.

Keeping Sarah as the focus from the start until the end of the performance, their concerts began with song Untouchable, which was set against a backdrop of footage of Sarah displayed on pink curtains. 

Sarah's vocals are also featured during their rendition of iconic hit The Promise, and she is shown in old footage singing on the screen, while Nadine, Cheryl, Kimberley and Nicola turned to face their backs to the audience.

While she can also be heard singing with the band during I'll Stand By You, before the girls perform Whole Lotta History, which was also dedicated to the late star.  

Black and white footage of Sarah singing is shown, followed by a emotional montage dedicated to the late star which reads: 'The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.'

The touching nods to Sarah have caused all four girls to become emotional at points throughout the reunion tour, while fans have been left in tears every night.

And Rita was among them on Tuesday, seen repeatedly swiping at her face to wipe away her tears, before joining in on the applause from the crowd.

Her emotional reaction comes after Nadine also broke down in tears while performing the tribute to Sarah during Girls Aloud's final show in Liverpool on Sunday.

The singer, 39, was comforted Cheryl, Kimberley and Nicola as the band sang along to Sarah in an unreleased version of I'll Stand By You.

Sarah had sung the track solo and the band and crowd joined in as a video of her played out.

Nadine was seen wiping away tears as the emotions got the better of her before Cheryl, Kimberley and Nicola all huddled together to complete the song.

Girls Aloud originally formed in 2002 after winning ITV's Pop Stars: The Rivals and soon shot to fame, achieving 20 top-ten singles and five BRIT award nominations.

The group took an initial break in 2009 to pursue other projects, reuniting with new music to mark their 10th anniversary in 2012, before they split for good the following year.

When they announced the tour, Cheryl revealed they had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

She said: 'We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate.

'But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon.' 

The group said they planned to use the tour to 'celebrate' their late friend.

Cheryl added: 'But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. That’s a big honour in lots of ways.'

Kimberley said: 'Over the last year, we've felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group.

'And I guess it's ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn't celebrate at the time.'