Drug abuse, X Factor rows and public spats over babies… The real reasons for Cheryl and Sarah Harding’s very public fall out
CHERYL’S relationship with her Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding has been strained for years and this week it hit a new low when Cheryl dealt Sarah the ultimate, modern day snub and unfollowed her on Twitter.
Sarah responded by posting a cryptic message about Karma to her Instagram page, which fans immediately assumed was aimed at Cheryl.
A friend of Cheryl's has since told us the singer actually unfollowed Sarah last year, revealing: "Cheryl unfollowed her a year ago.
"It was nothing to do with anything now.
"She still follows Sarah on Instagram and Cheryl looks at Instagram more than Twitter."
The reason for the public fall-out remains a mystery, but it is no secret that party girl Sarah and Cheryl have always been worlds apart.
Sarah became infamous for her wild ways when Girls Aloud were in their prime, with footage from their 2006 documentary Off The Record showing her going out partying, while Cheryl, who rarely drinks alcohol, would disappear off to bed.
Fans have also speculated that Sarah's prescription drugs and alcohol addiction offended Cheryl.
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Sarah says she has now successfully beaten her drug and alcohol issues - but Cheryl found it very hard to look past her former friend's previous demons.
In their later years Girls Aloud became totally divided with Cheryl, Kimberly Walsh and Nicola Roberts forming a close knit threesome, while Sarah and Nadine Coyle were sidelined.
Nadine’s relationship with Cheryl fell apart after the rest of the group called it quits in 2013 without telling her - just moments before they went on stage and the press release was already written.
Nadine later said: “I haven’t seen Cheryl since the last night of the tour. The only one I’ve seen since then is Sarah and she apologised for her part in what happened.”
However Cheryl later slammed Nadine as being “full of s***” and accused her of lying in Attitude magazine.
Sarah further soured the friendship when she announced that she’d like to be an X Factor judge - just after Simon Cowell sacked Cheryl from the US version of the show.
She told The Daily Mail: “It would be good [to be on the show]. I’d consider it, definitely. I would love to be a mentor.
"I feel someone has talent and potential I can always see it in them. I’d love to do that."
And if Sarah still didn’t know how Cheryl and her mates really felt about her, she finally got the memo when she wasn’t invited to Nicola’s 30th birthday party in October 2015 leading to her slamming her former pals in another interview.
Sarah told The Sun: “I didn't get a f***ing invite to Nicola's birthday! I nearly tweeted about it but I thought I better not. If I had an invite I wouldn't have gone, but I didn't.
“Relations were good between us until I didn't get an invite.”
Days later Cheryl appeared to respond to Sarah in a thinly-veiled Instagram post, captioned: “#Tbt Tangled up tour.. you're keeping control of the knife #2008 #memories.”
However, a source close to Cheryl insists there's no feud with the other bandmates, telling us: "There is no fall out.
"It's all just a story blown out of proportion."
In the past year Sarah has spoken candidly about how desperate Cheryl was to have children, which would have riled Cheryl, who remains fiercely private about all aspects of her personal life.
Sarah said: "I'm really happy for her. Cheryl has been broody for years.
"I think she's wanted a baby since Kimberley [Walsh] first fell pregnant.
"Cheryl has achieved a lot in her career but becoming a mum was always her ultimate goal.”
And now there's a chance Sarah could open up about her experiences with Cheryl even further after signing for Celebrity Big Brother.
Maybe that was the final straw that caused Cheryl to unfollow her.
A source told The Sun: "Big Brother producers are desperate for Sarah to go into the house.
“They are convinced she will be TV gold and know she could provide amazing gossip on lots of showbiz types, including her former Girls Aloud bandmates.
"Anything she says about Cheryl and Liam Payne would make amazing viewing."
No wonder Cheryl wants to ensure we all know Sarah's officially de-friended.
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