Nicola was paired with Giovanni Pernice for the Christmas special (Picture: BBC)
Kimberley Walsh could barely contain her excitement ahead of Nicola Roberts’ performance during the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.
The musician, partnered with Giovanni Pernice, joined the likes of Coronation Street star Alexandra Mardell, actor Larry Lamb, TV and radio presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams and podcaster and author Rosie Ramsey, in the ballroom.
Supporting her in the audience were none other than her Girls Aloud bandmates, Nadine Coyle, Cheryl and Kimberley.
Chatting to host Tess Daley ahead of the performance, Kimberley began: ‘I actually popped into rehearsals with my boys and it was looking gorgeous, so I am personally very excited.
‘I know she’s very nervous but I think we’ll be in for a treat actually.’
After the dance, which Nicola had been pretty open about her nerves for, she said: ‘I enjoyed every second of it.
Kimberley shared how excited she was (Picture: BBC)
They cheered her on from the front row (Picture: BBC)
‘And I was really nervous, I’m really hard on myself and I feel like I’ll enjoy it when we watch it back.’
She added: ‘It’s so much more technical than what you perceive it to be when you’re not part of the show.
‘When you watch it at home, the technical side it goes amiss, and when you’re here, it’s so precise!’
Harding died in September 2021 (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
On Friday, Nicola shared some sweet pictures of her bandmates supporting her in the audience, while also remembering the late Sarah Harding, who died in 2021.
Harding died aged 39 last September after revealing she had breast cancer which had spread to other parts of her body.
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Sharing some festive snaps of the girls posing in front of a Christmas tree, Nicola wrote: ‘When your girls bring you so much Christmas love! So nice to have them in the audience at Strictly to support me ♥️
‘We’re ending our year with so much gratitude in our hearts as we’ve managed to raise over One Million Pounds for research into breast cancer … as requested of us by our Electric Girl Sarah.
‘We think of you and miss you everyday Sarah 💜’
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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Nicola had the support of her bandmates in the first row.
