It's been 21 long years since Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine, Nicola and Sarah won over the nation on Popstars: The Rivals, and whilst it's been ten years since Girls Aloud last performed as a group, that's all set to change in 2024...
If you're a Girls Aloud fan, you might have spotted the hints across the girl's social media accounts, beginning with Nadine Coyle sharing the number four on her account, Kimberly Walsh shared three a day later before Nicola and Cheryl shared the numbers two and on respectively.
The arena anniversary tour will honour bandmate Sarah Harding who sadly passed away in 2021.
The tour will "celebrate Sarah [...] the band [...] and the fact that we can still do this 21 years later" says founding member Cheryl Tweedy.
The 15-date tour will begin in Dublin in May 2024, finishing in Liverpool six weeks later with a stop in Leeds, a homecoming of sorts for Kimberly Walsh who grew up in Allerton, and two nights in the nearby city of Manchester, where Sarah Harding called home.
Entitled 'The Girls Aloud Show', the band have confirmed the tour will not feature any new music, but will instead "be a celebration of Girls Aloud's rich back catalogue and all the ground-breaking success they have achieved as a band."
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."
'The Girls Aloud Show' arena tour dates are as followed:
Saturday 18 May – 3Arena Dublin
Monday 20 May - SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 23 May – Manchester AO Arena
Friday 24 May – Manchester AO Arena
Monday 27 May - Cardiff Utilita Arena
Friday 31 May - Newcastle Utilita Arena
Saturday 1 June - Newcastle Utilita Arena
Tuesday 4 June - Aberdeen P&J Live
Saturday 8 June - Glasgow OVO Hydro
Wednesday 12 June - Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Saturday 15 June - Leeds First Direct Arena
Tuesday 18 June - Birmingham Resorts World Arena
Saturday 22 June - London The O2
Sunday 23 June – London The O2
Saturday 29 June - Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Cheryl says: "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. 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.”
Nadine has added: "Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people's lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people. So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together."
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
Pretty Woman The Musical will be returning to the stage in Leeds next year
Emily Sergeant
“Big night out. Big. HUGE.”
This is your chance to experience one of Hollywood’s best-loved romcoms of all time, as following a record-breaking run in the West End and a sell-out first UK tour in 2023, Pretty Woman The Musical is heading back out the road again next year, and it’ll be taking to one of Leeds' most iconic stages.
With direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, an original score by Grammy winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by the movie’s legendary director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton, it’s no wonder Pretty Woman The Musical is one of the most popular productions of the 21st century.
Image: Supplied
Just like the 1990 film of the same name, Pretty Woman The Musical tells the story of Vivian and Edward, two unlikely soulmates who overcome all odds to find each other… and themselves.
The musical – which is described as being a ‘dazzlingly joyous love story for the ages’ – lets you experience all the moments you know and love from the movie, all while getting to know these iconic characters in a whole new way.
Image: Supplied
Stopping off at Leeds Grand Theatre next summer, the show will be in our city from 27 July through to 31 July 2027, before visiting other northern cities like York, Sunderland, Hull, and Liverpool, as well as major locations like Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
You can find out more about when to buy your tickets for Pretty Woman at Leeds Grand Theatre here.
Sophie Smith -
23rd November 2023 
