So, I was in a room with Girls Aloud...

This morning, we all traipsed over to The Corinthia Hotel to see The Girls of Girls Aloud reveal pop's worst kept secret: They are releasing a greatest hits album, and they are going on a tour.

I'll admit my stomach did a little flip when they walked out: Cheryl, then Nicola, then Kimberley (showing us her Strictly Come Dancing tummy), Sarah and Nadine. They still have that certain something - let's call it the X Factor - that sets them apart from, say, The Saturdays.

"We were all just getting dressed this morning, and it actually feels really normal," said Cheryl. "Like nothing changed, like we didn't take three years away."

Then there was a lot of, frankly boring, waffling about how blessed they all were, and how incredible it was to be back together, which went on for approximately seven months. I've cherry-picked the few remaining quotes from the press conference for your edification. But you could skip to the end and watch the (superb) video for Something New and you wouldn't have missed much.

:: "[Our first meeting was] in the same hotel that we stayed in on the night we got in the band." - Nicola

:: "I had women's underwear thrown onto the stage once with my name on the crotch" - Cheryl

:: "My Brit award has just arrived, literally about two weeks ago. I was like 'What is this?'" - Nadine

:: [On the hiatus] "It was important and good that we were challenged individually, just as people. We were kind of morphing into one personality towards the end. This is normality for us, the last three years have been kind of weird." - Cheryl

:: "Nadine was in America, so I was having to write melodies in the morning so that she could sing them in the afternoon. It was a worldwide situation." - Nicola

:: [On meeting Beyonce] "I completely embarassed myself. I just turned into a weirdo. I had no control of what was coming out of my mouth. It was the first time I was really starstruck." - Cheryl

:: "It's not real life. None of this is real life. So we just can't take it seriously." - Nadine

Girls Aloud - Something New

Some other observations: Nadine was delighted to be back (or delighted to have an audience, at least). Cheryl seemed a little uncomfortable, and wished she was "somewhere warm" instead. Kimberley extolled the virtues of drinking English tea (what a corporate whore, eh readers?) for which Sarah branded her a "supergran". And Nicola? Nicola was cool as a swimming pool.

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