What I learned from Girls Aloud: Off the Record

I recently realised that I hadn’t actually seen all the episodes of Girls Aloud’s 2006 E4 documentary series, so I decided to watch the whole thing again. I saw quite a few familiar faces from the music industry and there were some interesting connections to the band members’ futures…

• Although the girls were moany at times, their genuine excitement for their arena tour showed they really did love being a pop band for the right reasons. Their honesty and clear understanding of their place in pop was also really refreshing and a nice contrast to some of today’s groups.
• Nadine, however, was already past caring about Girls Aloud, and this was a few years before their hiatus. All the girls said they enjoyed making the documentary, apart from Nadine who openly admitted she hated it and had never wanted to do it!
• Ashley Cole is a terrible human and I am not one bit the wiser as to why Cheryl married him. However, if the rumour that it was a sham marriage to cover up for Ashley’s secret gayness is true, it doesn’t seem like Cheryl was in on the plan.
• Nicola definitely wasn’t a fashionista in those days. When discussing what they should wear on tour, she suggested baggy trousers and trainers!
• Sarah’s recent problems were certainly evident in the documentary, as she seemed quite desperate to be in a relationship and was just as much of a party animal as the papers portrayed.
• Kimberley was the only one who seemed totally together, setting up home with her nice Triple 8 boyfriend. Her mum wanted her to go into musicals after the band, so she got her wish in the end.
• Cheryl was so much more fun before she started trying to be the perfect princess all the time. The Cheryl in this documentary would have been an amazing X Factor judge.