YMMV / Girls Aloud

• Accidental Innuendo: When Cheryl made an appearance on Styled to Rock as the challenge of the week, she and Nicola met up with one of the contestants. When Nicola commented that she liked how the word "lane" was printed on the pants (unwittingly pointing out that it was directed towards the crotch), Cheryl immediately started giggling and smacks Nicola on the arm.
• Americans Hate Tingle: Despite being another Spice Girls-sized phenomenon in the U.K., they're basically unknown to the rest of the world, largely because they never really wanted to try and because they had no time. They made an attempt to gain some recognition in Australia, Europe, and China as evidenced on their special Off The Record, but the extensive travel involved and the lukewarm reception ultimately lead them to prefer to stay home in the UK.
• Critic-Proof: Their cover of "I'll Stand By You" was panned by critics, but it became their second single to debut at #1 on the charts.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Cheryl has "Chezza" or "Chez", Kimberley has "Kimba" and Sarah was "Hardcore Harding". (Cheryl and Kimberley actually do respond to those nicknames if called by their friends.)
  • The Christmas EP that accompanied Chemistry was occasionally dubbed Christmastry.
• Fanon Discontinuity:
  • Most fans like to pretend that "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" isn't their final single, especially since it was not written by Xenomania.
  • They would also prefer if the 3 minute edited down version of "Untouchable" (the version for the video) didn't exist as well, blaming it on the song's low chart performance.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Girls Aloud were always quite well known in Ireland, likely due to Nadine Coyle's prominence in the initial singles. Nicola Coughlan of Derry Girls (who actually based her accent off Nadine's) refers to Nadine being part of the first bit of Irish pop culture when she infamously lied about her age on Popstars.
• Growing the Beard: When the group was first formed, they were still considered a novelty, due to being formed on Popstars: The Rivals and there was no real successful act to spring from reality television. It wasn't until they released "Love Machine" and then Chemistry that critics started to take notice of their output.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The video for their cover of "I'll Stand By You" opens with Sarah turning to the camera and singing "oh, why you look so sad?" - which can sting in light of her tragic passing from cancer at the age of thirty-nine.
  • Sarah Harding entered FHM's "High Street Honeys" competition prior to her Girls Aloud fame, where she proclaimed that her boyfriend at the time told her that her boobs were too perfect. The cancer she died from was breast cancer.
• Hollywood Homely: Nicola Roberts was constantly branded by the media as "ugly" because of her ginger hair and pale skin. Luckily, she fought back against this by creating a makeup range for pale-skinned women like herself.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • This 2006 sketch featuring Kimberley, Sarah, and Cheryl spoofing The X Factor. Two years later, Cheryl replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge on the show.
  • On one of the band's behind the scenes specials in 2005, Cheryl makes a crack about she and the rest of the girls don't really want to be singing "Love Machine" by the time they're 30. In 2013, all five of them are already at that age and they'll be touring on their greatest hits, which include "Love Machine."
  • During a commentary about the "Biology" video, Sarah joked that her updo made her look like Bet Lynch. A few years later, Julie Goodyear herself played the part of Sarah's mother as part of a sketch on the Girls Aloud Party. And then in 2015, Sarah landed a 4-episode guest spot on the show itself.
  • This 2005 review of Chemistry. The next several years did in fact see them release their first greatest hits collection, Cheryl's marriage and divorce, The X Factor and subsequent solo career, and the other girls following suit with other reality show appearances and solo albums.
  • Girls Aloud were named the "Most Successful Reality TV Group" by Guinness World Records in 2011...one year before being eclipsed by One Direction.
• Les Yay:
  • In the "Jump" video, Nadine opens the second verse with "you told me" and Cheryl then goes "I'm the only woman for...you" - and the next shot is the two of them having a Held Gaze. And in another shot, Cheryl has her arm on Nadine's shoulder.
  • Kimberley and Cheryl are very close, to the point that the band's fanbase enjoy reading into this, nicknaming them "Chim".
    • In fact, the first time Cheryl and Kimberley met, Cheryl blurted out that she thought Kimberley had beautiful skin.
• Memetic Mutation: Nadine's lying about her age on TV and realising she'd accidentally caught herself out is considered one of the first moments of Irish pop culture.
• More Popular Spin-Off: They have pretty much eclipsed the Popstars brand at this point, much like One Direction have (outside the U.K.) done to the X Factor franchise.
• Narm: How Sarah and Cheryl view the "Wake Me Up" video and several others upon rewatching them several years later for a DVD commentary.
• Narm Charm: The attempts at 'edginess' in the first three singles, "Sound of the Underground", "No Good Advice" and "Life Got Cold" - especially in comparison to their later Lighter and Softer image. The videos are very early 2000s, along with the fashions, but the music itself is good and there is a nostalgic charm for it all the same.
• One True Threesome: Part of the fanbase regards Nicola, Cheryl, and Kimberley as this, dubbing them "Chimola" as the three of them border on True Companions and were most often seen hanging out together during the group's hiatus and showing up for support on each other's solo endeavors.
• Posthumous Popularity Potential: By 2021, Sarah's career had been the least prolific of the five; her solo album failing to chart, with only a four-episode stint on Coronation Street and 2017 win of Celebrity Big Brother to her name. The news of her cancer diagnosis in late 2020, especially the tragedy surrounding it (she had been reluctant to go the hospital for a check-up during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning she could potentially have been diagnosed earlier) brought her to national attention. Her book Hear Me Out, written knowing she wouldn't live much longer, was an immediate bestseller and caused the group's obscure single of the same name to top the charts. Upon her death, fans have re-evaluated her contribution to the group, her bold 'Hardcore Harding' public persona, and her sense of fashion.
• Signature Song: "Love Machine", "Biology", "Call The Shots", or "The Promise", depending on who you ask.
• Special Effects Failure: The video for "Something Kinda Ooooh". They've admitted that they ran out of time to properly film the music video, hence the dodgy green screen effects behind them and the fact that the cars they were in were obviously parked in stationary positions.
• Spiritual Successor: Considered this to the Spice Girls as Geri Halliwell had a hand in selecting them since she was a judge on the show that formed them. They've since outgrown that label.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • "Life Got Cold" bears quite a resemblance to Oasis' "Wonderwall". So much that Noel Gallagher received a writing credit to tamper down the criticism.
  • "Love Machine"'s guitar riff was inspired by The Smiths' "Rusholme Ruffians", but is removed enough to not be a direct ripoff or sample.
• Testosterone Brigade: Naturally with five very attractive young women, they attracted some male fans. Sarah and Cheryl were especially promoted as the sexy ones of the group.
• Vindicated by History: The "I'll Stand by You" cover was tepidly received when it first got released. But it eventually came to be seen as an anthem for Sarah Harding's breast cancer diagnosis, and the parallels to the girls all mending their rift to be there for her.
• The Woobie: Nicola Roberts, who was abused and branded by the media for being pale and "ugly" at age 17 when she joined the group.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: They say as much about the outfits they wore in the "No Good Advice" video. They felt like they were dancing in tinfoil, not to mention the trousers kept ripping.

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