Cheryl opens up on how spirit of late Sarah Harding fixed her car on drive to Newcastle

Cheryl has told the story of how a visit from the spirit of late bandmate Sarah Harding left her in tears whilst on the way to Newcastle.

Harding tragically passed away in September 2021 after a battle with cancer and her Girls Aloud colleagues Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle took part in a Race for Life in her memory last weekend - Kimberley Walsh joined virtually by phone.

The singers spend the day remembering Harding and one reporter asked Geordie star Cheryl about something she had written in her late colleague's autobiography.

In Harding's book Hear Me Out, the 'Fight for this Love' singer gave her mate permission to come back and visit her, as long as it wasn't on the loo.

Enthusiastically, Cheryl responded that the spirit of Harding had indeed been back to visit - and performed a much-needed act of DIY too.

She said: "I got into the car, I was driving to Newcastle last year.

"For weeks I'd been fiddling on with my car to get the Bluetooth working and I couldn't and I was infuriated with it, I gave up.

"I let it go for a couple of months. I got into my car and 'Hear Me Out' [a Girls Aloud song] was playing. My phone wasn't on, the music hadn't been fiddled with, nothing.

"It was playing through the bluetooth. I laughed and then I cried. What did she [Sarah Harding] name the book after? Hear Me Out."

Harding announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2020 and that it had advanced to other parts of her body.

By March 2021, the singer had announced that her diagnosis was terminal and that she did not expect to "see another Christmas".

The star passed away on September 5, 2021 at the age of 39.

At the Race for Life, Cheryl said: "To be honest, I’ve never experienced or anticipated this grief. You know, I’ve lost grandparents when I was younger and I lost a friend when I was younger but nothing like this, the feeling of shock and disbelief and it still lingers now to be honest. I still can’t quite believe it’s real."