Cheryl has made her first TV appearance following the tragic death of her ex Liam Payne. The One Direction singer tragically died last month at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reports OK!

Cheryl, who shared seven year old Bear with Liam, was joined by her fellow Girls Aloud bandmates on Friday, 15 November in a pre-recorded clip for Children in Need.

The clip, which was filmed earlier this year, showed Cheryl alongside Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh as they promoted this year’s charity single – a new release of I’ll Stand By You with Sarah Harding on lead vocals.

( Image:BBC)

As well as the band themselves being on the verge of tears, viewers were also incredibly emotional watching the girls’ reunion. In the clip, Cheryl, 41, opened up about the significance of the song.

In addition to becoming the band’s second ever number one single, the track gained a whole new significance following Sarah’s death three years ago. “Back in 2004 we were really honoured to be asked to release the official Children In Need single of our cover I’ll Stand By You,” said Nicola.

“There was a huge campaign that we travelled around the UK to promote the song and the amazing work Children In Need do,” added Nadine. Meanwhile, Cheryl added: “It was our second ever number one single. We’ve played it at every tour ever since.”

Kimberley was visibly moved as she reflected on the profound loss of Sarah, who passed away in 2021 at age 39 due to breast cancer complications. “When we got back together to tour earlier this year we dedicated the song I’ll Stand By You to Sarah at every show. We went through the Girls Aloud vault and put together a version where Sarah’s incredible voice took the lead so we could duet with her,” Nicola shared.

Nadine and Cheryl also introduced the meaningful single which features Sarah’s vocals prominently and aims to support charity by donating proceeds from every sale to BBC Children In Need, assuring care for more children and families around the UK. Following Girls Aloud’s poignant tribute to Sarah, fans expressed their deep emotions on social media.

Girls Aloud reformed earlier this year for a 20th anniversary tour, with tributes to Sarah Harding ( Image:BBC)

Sarah sadly died from breast cancer ( Image:BBC)

With comments such as “This girls aloud thing so beautiful My faves growing up. Sarah’s death hugely got to me,” and “Show the whole thing! #childreninneed absolutely beautiful song and video by girls aloud there,” fans praised the heartfelt homage. One person admitted the tribute brought them to tears: “Tthis had my in tears. She will be so proud of you doing this and thank you for doing this for us and Children in Need I know this would’ve been incredibly hard.”

Cheryl made a return to the telly just a month after her ex-partner Liam’s tragic death. Following his demise, the Parachute singer took to social media to share a deeply moving message.

“As I try to navigate this earth shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” she wrote. “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7 year old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”