Girls Aloud was created on the 2002 British television show Popstars: The Rivals.
The programme used a public vote to form both a girl group and a boy band. Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh won places in the female group, which became Girls Aloud.
Their debut single, “Sound of the Underground,” was released in December 2002 and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. The group went on to have a long run of British chart successes and received a BRIT Award for Best Single in 2009.
A frequent mix-up is confusing the group’s television origin with The X Factor, another British talent-show franchise that later produced groups such as One Direction and Little Mix. Girls Aloud came specifically from Popstars: The Rivals.