Olly Alexander made a surprise appearance with Girls Aloud at Brighton Pride. (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Olly Alexander surprised the audience at Girls Aloud’s Brighton Pride show at Fabuloso in the Park.
After being introduced by Married at First Sight UK star and trans activist Ella Morgan, Girls Aloud members Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Kimberly Walsh and Nicola Roberts burst onto the Brighton Pride stage at Preston Park on Saturday (3 August).
Dripping in gold metallic coats for their opening track “The Show”, the band impressed the crowd with their signature vocals.
After performing hits like “Something New”, “Can’t Speak French”, “Sound Of The Underground”, and even a cover of Madonna’s “Material Girl”, Girls Aloud left fans reeling after being joined by Eurovision 2024 contestant Alexander.
Alexander joined the quartet for their first performance of “The Loving Kind” since 2009. The performers also banded together to perform the Years & Years track “King” alongside Alexander.
“I can’t tell you what an honour it is to be on this stage,” Alexander told the crowd, visibly humbled by the audience’s reception. “This is a dream come true.”
Girls Aloud’s Brighton Pride show concluded their The Girls Aloud Show UK tour, which saw their first live performances together for more than 10 years. The shows also marked their first since their late band member Sarah Harding died in 2021 after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Their Brighton set saw multiple emotional nods to Harding, including the emotional tribute, “Whole Lotta History”. Behind the singers, a montage of videos of the late star played, while the star’s vocals were heard at the end of the track. A quote was also projected onto the screen which read, “The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.”
Elsewhere in the show, Sarah’s recorded vocals led the band into a cover of The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You”. They finished the track a capella, with the band’s haunting vocals resonating across the crowd of 300,000 attendees.
After a fairly long encore, and a costume change into matching silver glittering dresses, the band came back to perform “The Promise”. Harding appeared again on the screen to sing her solo, with the band members pausing to watch the emotional footage.