We didn't know how much we needed a Girls Aloud reunion until we were blessed with news of one at the end of last year. The popular noughties girl group announced in November that they'd be reuniting for an arena tour in 2024 in memory of their late bandmate, Sarah Harding. And to kick off the publicity ahead of May, the girls have joined forces for a series of appearances and TikToks.
In a new clip posted to Official Girls Aloud's TikTok page this week, the four members – Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle and Kimberley Walsh – lip sync to the viral 'Twin, where have you been?' soundtrack. While plenty of the group's followers have taken to the comment section to share their sadness at seeing a reunion without Sarah, who sadly passed away from breast cancer in 2021, many are marvelling at Nicola's 'glow up'.
One comments: "Nicola has the most gorgeous hair ever... I want it," while a second pens: "Nicola's glow up though!"
A third adds: "Nicola is just so beautiful," with a fourth saying: "I love Nicola's style".
In the name of essential research, we've decided to take a full look back at Nicola's beauty transformation between 2002, when the now-38 year old first appeared on Pop Stars: The Rivals, to now in 2024 ahead of the reunion tour.
2002 - Pop Stars: The Rivals
Nicola took part in the singing competition back in the early noughties when she was paired up with her future bandmates. Fresh-faced and with her natural auburn hair straightened into the slick side-parted look that all of us wore in that era, Nicola looked every bit the trendy teen.
2005 - Girls Aloud in Concert
The star briefly tried out a more brunette shade of hair colour in the mid-noughties, proving she could go darker and still have it suit her pale complexion. Though Nicola does have naturally incredible and thick hair, we wonder if she turned to hair extensions in her early Girls Aloud days, considering she swapped between mid-length and long cuts regularly.
2008 - Music Industry Trust Award Dinner
This was the year Nicola first showed off a bob haircut, which she'd continue to wear in various forms for the next few years. This deep copper was incredibly shiny and she often paired it with copper and sunset tones of eye and lip make-up to accentuate the rust shades.
2009 - Pride of Britain Awards
We love how Nicola has always kept to a spectrum of copper hair shades, but she went for more of a vivid orange near the end of the noughties when she opted for this voluminous lob with a bold balayage effect. With a punchy smoky eye and heavy liner, Nicola's make-up wasn't nearly as natural looking as it is today.
2010 - Elle Style Awards after-party
Before Nicola realised long hair was for her, she rocked this curly bob. The style looked incredible on her, however, when you have hair as thick as she does, having some length can help weigh it down a tad. This was a fun look at the time, with shorter and voluminous styles like these trending.
2018 - London Fashion Week
This was the year that Nicola really started to get her high-fashion credentials. The singer appeared at London Fashion Week parties with ultra-length hair, a perfect thick fringe and an auburn shade that suits her pale complexion to a tee. It was around this time that Nicola also started sharing more about her haircare regime on Instagram, crediting Living Proof products (£31 here for the brand's hero Texture Spray) and ColorWow Pop Lock serum, £16.65 here, for giving her healthy, long lengths.
2024 - London Fashion Week party
Last month, the four women broke the Internet when they joined up for one of their first official group outings in years. Cheryl's big transformation took most of the press, but Nicola's youthful complexion also had fans talking. The singer has previously said in interviews that she swears by Elizabeth Arden's 8-Hour Cream, £29 here, and Rodial Dragon's Blood Eye Masks, £38 here, so perhaps those are her secrets to eternal youth.
