As Cheryl bid an emotional final goodbye to Liam Payne at his funeral on Wednesday, she was supported by two of her best friends and Girls Aloud bandmates, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh.

The Newcastle-born singer, 41, who shared seven-year-old son Bear with the former One Direction star, walked behind her ex’s coffin following a poignant private service attended by family members and a host of stars from the world of music and sport.

Cheryl’s close friends Nicola, 39, and Kimberley, 43, were amongst the mourners who gathered to pay their last respects at the ceremony following Liam’s tragic death at the age of 31.

The bandmates are said to have been supporting Cheryl since the singer’s passing on October 16 after he fell from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. 

Kimberley, Nicola and Cheryl, who first met on on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, have remained close to one another since Girls Aloud disbanded in 2013. 

They reunited with fellow star Nadine Coyle, 39, earlier this year for their greatest hits tour, but the Northern Irish singer, who is based in America, was not at yesterday’s funeral in Buckinghamshire. 

Cheryl, Kimberley and Nicola have often showed their support and friendship with one another over the years – whilst Nadine previously admitted that she is ‘not best mates’ with the rest of the group, but ‘very cordial’.

From cheering on Kimberley at her Shrek The Musical and Big The Musical performances to attending the press night for Cheryl’s role in 2:22 A Ghost Story and stepping out at birthday parties together, the friendly trio often show up to support one another.

In 2017, Cheryl made it clear just how much Kimberley and Nicola mean to her as she celebrated the ‘amazing, inspiring gorgeous souls’ that are her two best friends on Girls Aloud’s 15th anniversary.

Sharing a flawless selfie of the three stars, the mother-of-one posted: ‘Crazy how time flies…15 years ago today some of the best, craziest years of my life were just beginning.

‘I had no idea what a life journey I was starting out on. We had some of the most amazing times of our lives and made some incredible pop moments to put the cherry on top. 

‘In the end I left with these two amazing, inspiring gorgeous souls and the best friends anyone could ever ask for. 

‘You blessed me and I will never be able to thank you enough for the support, love and loyalty you brought to our group.’

Not pictured in the snap were Nadine and Sarah, although she did tag the two other bandmates in the post as she concluded: ‘I am so proud of what we achieved. @lilcola @kimberleywalshofficial @nadinecoyle @sarahnicoleharding Thank you. #Girlsaloud15’.

Cheryl and Nicola also enjoyed a trip to New York in 2018, with the latter taking to Instagram at the time to share snaps of the pair indulging in cocktails, sightseeing and yoga. 

Cheryl, who flew to the states to support Nicola for her gig at Madison Square Gardens, playfully posed for the camera at they celebrated the success of her show.

However, the relationship between the trio and bandmate Nadine has always been more complex.

She claimed she didn’t want the band to break up and was blindsided with the news that they were splitting just minutes before going out on stage for the final performance of the Ten: The Hits Tour in 2013.

Naidne told The Mirror: ‘On the very last night of the tour, our management and publicist came up to me and said the girls wanted to split up the band. I was thinking, “What?!” I was in hair and make-up, about to get into my costume, and the show was starting in 20 minutes.

‘I was shocked. I went back to my make-up lady and told her, and was like, “F***! I don’t have a job! What am I going to do?” I screamed and cried on stage and off stage.’

Cheryl later hit back, telling Attitude magazine that Nadine was ‘full of s***’.

She said: ‘She was the one who wanted to make a solo record. Which is why we took the hiatus. She wants to come out and say we broke the band up? No! She shouldn’t tell porkie pies.

‘Okay, so do you want us to tell the truth? She wasn’t going to make another Girls Aloud record until she got a solo deal.

‘I feel she held us to ransom and then made her solo record deal. It’s the truth. She’s saying that we broke the band up. So there you go.’

In 2020, Nadine, who previously claimed that she and Cheryl hadn’t spoken for seven years since the band split following a reunion tour in 2012, told Ok! Magazine how ‘everything remains very cordial’ with her fellow bandmates. 

She explained: ‘We’re not best mates, it’s just the way it’s always been. I’m very close to a lot of people from my time in the band, like our hair and make-up people and the dancers, but you gravitate towards the people that you have stuff in common with.’

However, the death of Sarah Harding and the groups’ subsequent reunion tour has brought tha band closer together again. 

When they announced the tour, Cheryl revealed they had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah – who died in September 2021 – was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She said: ‘We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate.

‘But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon.’

The group used the tour to ‘celebrate’ their late friend.

Cheryl added at the time: ‘But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. That’s a big honour in lots of ways.’

Kimberley said: ‘Over the last year, we’ve felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group. 

‘And I guess it’s ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.’

Nadine said: ‘Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people’s lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people.

‘So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.’

Earlier this month, Cheryl made her first TV appearance since her ex-partner Liam tragically passed away – joining Girls Aloud to promote their latest charity single tribute for Sarah.

The singer was captured in a moving pre-recorded clip, which was filmed earlier this year, alongside her band members as they introduced a new release of I’ll Stand By You with their late friend on lead vocals.

Cheryl candidly opened up about the meaning of the song as the group struggled to contain their tears in the emotional video.

‘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. 

She was followed by Nadine, who added: ‘There was a huge campaign that we travelled around the UK to promote the song and the amazing work Children In Need do.’

‘When we got back together to tour earlier this year we dedicated the song I’ll Stand By You to Sarah at every show,’ Nicola interceded.

‘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.’

As Nadine and Cheryl introduced the charity single, they called out fans to help raise funds for BBC Children In Need.

Girls Aloud catapulted to fame in 2002 when they took part in the ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

They competed for a place in a girl band and were then pitted against a boy band from the show named One True Voice in the hope that their song would become Christmas number one.

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they went on to have three more number ones and 20 top ten hits. Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.

Last month, Cheryl paid tribute to Liam in an Instagram post and spoke of her ‘indescribable pain’ over telling their seven-year-old son Bear his father had passed away.  

Following the mother-of-one’s statement, her best friends Kimberley and Nicola reposted it on their social media accounts alongside broken heart emojis. 

The two friends have been supporting Cheryl since Liam’s passing, according to The Sun. 

They further showed their support on Wednesday as they were among the first mourners to arrive at Liam’s funeral.

Nicola was greeted with a kiss by Simon Jones, the former PR for One Direction who now acts for her bandmate Cheryl.

Other mourners greeted her as they stood at the entrance to the church waiting for the doors to open. 

The road outside the church was closed to traffic with mourners being dropped at a side door before walking past gravestones to the main entrance.  The arrivals were being carefully managed by a private security firm. 

A small crowd of onlookers had gathered, but most were local residents rather than young One Direction fans.

Harry Styles, 30, Niall Horan, 31, Zayn Malik, 31, and Louis Tomlinson, 32, were all present in what was believed to be their first public meeting as a group since their last concert in 2015. Liam’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, 25, was also in attendance.

A church source said a choir and musicians performed at the service. One of the floral displays showed bowling pins and a ball – a nod to his love of bowling, which Kate said he did four times a week. 

The funeral’s location was a closely guarded secret, and local residents only realised it was taking place when ‘no parking’ signs were erected around the church.

Two traffic enforcement officers patrolled the area handing out tickets to any drivers ignoring the signs.

Liam travelled to Argentina in September where he watched former bandmate Niall perform and also saw his close friend Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores. He had extended his stay to renew his visa to live in the US when the tragedy occurred. 

One source told The Sun: ‘His family have gone to great lengths to put together the perfect service and give him the send off he deserves. 

‘Liam may have been a global superstar but to Geoff and Karen he will always be their little boy. It is going to be an incredibly difficult day.’

In a joint statement released following Liam’s death, Louis, Zayne, Niall and Harry said they were ‘completely devastated.’

‘In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say,’ they said. ‘But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.

‘The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam – Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry.’

Louis, Harry and Zayn all later released separate tributes. Harry wrote on Instagram that he was ‘truly devastated’ and will ‘miss him always’.