Celebrity Big Brother star Louis Walsh became a household name for his part on ITV’s Popstars: The Rivals, which sought to find the next big boy or girl band on the back of Pop Idol’s success a year earlier in 2001.
Joining Pete Waterman and Spice Girls’ Geri Halliwell on the panel, the Irishman used his experience in managing Boyzone and Westlife in helping to select the winners – who formed the boys’ One Tru Voice and the girls’ Girls Aloud. The latter saw Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Tweedy, Sarah Harding and Nicola Roberts combine to win the series and achieve the coveted Christmas No1 spot in 2002.
The five-piece went on to score two No1 albums and 20 top 10 singles before splitting in 2013 following their 10th anniversary shows. Although they have since reformed following the tragic death of Sarah, the girls were previously embroiled in a bitter feud that came to a head on social media after their demise.
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Louis, meanwhile, had long since stepped away from the girls, having handed over the management reigns to his replacement, Hilary Shaw, in 2005. “I was too busy with Westlife to give them attention, to be honest,” the 71-year-old later admitted.
(Image: PA)
Speaking to Ladbrokes LIVE, the music boss continued: “But they did fantastic; they should have been a worldwide success really because their songs just worked anywhere, but they were only really successful in the UK.”
In 2017, however, Kimberley recalled an unsavoury moment with Louis in which he fat-shamed the quintet in their early days. “We were doing our video for Love Machine in 2004 and Louis Walsh waltzed in and said to us, ‘Oh, none of you are fat any more! Brilliant, that’s great’,” she told the Sun.
Girls Aloud confirmed their 2013 split in an emotional statement on Twitter, which read: “Dear Alouders, we just want to say from the bottom of our hearts Thank you!! This tour has been an amazing experience and the perfect chance to say thank you for being on this journey with us through a decade.
(Image: Getty Images)
“It has far exceeded any of our dreams and we hope we are forever your inspiration and reminder that dreams really do glitter!! Your love and support will stay with us forever but we have now come to the end of our incredible time together. Love you lots.”
Nadine later confessed she only found out news of the break-up herself on tour the night before. “You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business,” she ranted the next day. “I couldn’t stop them. I had the best time and want to keep going.”
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Perfect X AMI)
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Cheryl hit back in defence, telling Attitude magazine that her former pal was “full of s***” accusing her of holding the band to ransom. “She wasn’t going to make another Girls Aloud record until she got a solo deal,” she remarked “I feel she held us to ransom and then made her solo record deal. It’s the truth. She’s saying that we broke the band up. So there you go.”
Louis slammed Cheryl in December last year, admitting he “doesn’t bother” staying in touch with her and they “didn’t get on” whilst working on X Factor together. He told the Mail: “I don’t have a relationship with Cheryl, I don’t bother.
“I haven’t seen her, I haven’t heard from her. We didn’t get on great on X Factor because she didn’t get the fun of it. She didn’t understand that side of it.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
