Girls Aloud are one of the most successful pop groups in the UK. They bravely fought their way to the top during the nerve shredding terror of the Popstars auditions and have performed their music in front of thousands of fans. However, they now take on their scariest challenge to date. Yvette Fielding invites the girls to test their mettle during a night of ghost hunting at two of the UK’s most haunted locations. Cheryl Tweedy, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle are about to have their pampered pop-princess lifestyles turned upside down, as they spend a terrifying night with the UK’s premier spook-mistress! Ghosthunting With Girls Aloud is brand new and exclusive to ITV2, Tuesday 12 December at 9pm.

The show begins when Yvette collects the girls in a taxi. However, she soon finds that Nadine is missing. Leaving the rest of the girls by the roadside, Yvette takes off to Nadine’s house, only to discover that she finds the prospect of ghost hunting too terrifying to take part. Nothing can change her mind, so Yvette rejoins the rest of the band to make their way to the first location, accompanied by renowned psychologist Professor Geoffrey Beattie (Big Brother). Professor Beattie observes their actions via specially rigged cameras fitted in the taxi and comments on the girl’s body language, how they are handling the fear factor and the group dynamic.

The band are taken to a Jacobian manor house, deep in the countryside of North Wales. They learn that the manor was previously used as a courthouse where the perpetrators of petty crimes were ‘tried’ in one room and ‘hung’ in another. Yvette and the girls take part in a séance conducted in the most haunted room of the house. However, before the séance can even begin, things take a sinister turn when Cheryl bursts into tears after she is convinced that a ghost touched her arm. During the séance Sarah then finds that she is really affected by the level of paranormal activity in the room.

After splitting up into two groups, Yvette and the girls then explore the house with night vision cameras, hearing inexplicable noises and loud bangs as they investigate. Cheryl defiantly shouts a challenge to the ghosts to present the group with proof of their existence. At that moment a huge crash occurs in the middle of the room.

After the terrifying events in Wales, Yvette then takes the girls to an even more nail biting location - a deserted sanitorium in deepest, darkest Cheshire. This deserted hospital is over a hundred years old and was used to treat TB sufferers. The hospital has been out of use for 15 years and although most of the buildings are now a shell, the mortuary still contains the original slab and the freezers where dead bodies were stored. It is here, on the slab, where Yvette and the girls conduct their Ouija board experiment. The group then descend the stairs into the pitch black basement in search of an old matron who is rumoured to haunt it.

What do the girls find? Are they now convinced that there is something out there? Will they be able to sleep alone tonight after what they have experienced? One thing is for sure; Girls Aloud will never be the same again!

Why did you want to take part in the show?

Cheryl: We were offered the chance and we have always been interested in the subject, we thought it would be a really good experience.
Kimberley: We were scared about the prospect but at the same time, really intrigued.
It was a great chance to find out more.
Nicola: I am the terrified type but I was intrigued and I knew if I said no, I would regret it and so I wanted to go along and see what happened.
Sarah: I am really interested in the supernatural and love Most Haunted and so I thought it was a great opportunity.

Have you ever had any supernatural experiences before the show?

Nadine, Sarah and Nicola: No.
Kimberley: I have had a go with a ouija board before. I was only young and I did it with some friends. I think we felt the glass move but I think it was our energies! It was too long ago for me to remember though. I was very sceptical about this kind of thing.
Cheryl: Yes I have. I was in on my own at home and my dog started barking. He was going mad and I didn’t dare look. When I did, it was some smoke! I screamed the place down. I thought it was a ghost because I was terrified.

Nadine, why did you decide not take part in the ghost hunting?

I am just petrified about all this kind of stuff, I am just so scared - just the thought of doing it. I don’t want to be mixing with that kind of thing. Now after hearing about the girls’ stories, I know I made the right decision. I have no regrets that I didn’t take part.

What was the most terrifying part of the show for you?

Sarah: The last part. There was no escape, it was underground and I was very emotional about it all. I was so scared.
Kimberley: Me too, definitely the last part. I had had a stone thrown at me and I cried a lot. I didn’t think the Matron (the ’ghost’ we had been talking to) liked me and I was so fearful.
Nicola: At the very last point when I asked to get out the room. I was so petrified.
Cheryl: The last part. Before I had been nervous as we walked around but in the last part of the search, I felt frightened. There were no lights on, and we were going in blind, it was terrible.

What was the most positive part of the show for you?

Sarah: The ouija board. I wasn’t scared. We weren’t in pitch black. I was going ‘wow’ all the time, I really enjoyed it.
Kimberley: The fact we got through it all and we made it to the bitter end. It did open my mind to the supernatural.
Nicola: Seeing Geoff the psychologist!
Cheryl: The trip home! I was glad that I had done it but I was pleased we were going away.

How did you find working with Yvette?

All: We really enjoyed it!
Nicola: She is really nice.
Sarah: Very lovely.
Cheryl: She was very dramatic but really nice and down to earth.
Kimberley: She was really ballsy. She was great.

Nicola – after initially taking part in the ghosthunting, you were then too scared to participate in the séance and the exploration with the night vision cameras. Can you explain what scared you so much and why you decided not to participate?

The whole thing scared me. The thought of doing it frightened me. I was too scared to do a séance. I feared I’d lie awake at night afterwards or we would disturb them. I didn’t like the idea of sitting in a room where I couldn’t see anything either. I didn’t need to put myself through it. Things do play on my mind.

Sarah, you were the most enthusiastic about taking part, why was this?

I was the most enthusiastic and the most crap at it! I was really keen. I am a mad watcher of all these shows. I love Most Haunted and I was keen to learn more, but I knew I would get scared. And I did! I found standing in the dark very tough indeed.

Cheryl – can you tell us some more about the sensation you had of someone stroking your arm?

It felt like someone brushing my arm, like a stroke almost. It happened really quickly. It was unexpected and I was really scared. I definitely thought it was something.
Nicola: Yes it was instant. There was something there.
Kimberley: Yeah, that was so weird.

Who is the biggest ‘scaredy cat’ of the band?

Sarah, Nadine, Kimberley, Cheryl: Nicola.
Nicola: I have an over active imagination. I always think the worst. Say we get on a roller coaster, I immediately think this is going to be awful, not nice. I am a real scaredy!

Are you glad you took part in the show?

Kimberley: Yes it has been a great experience.
Sarah: Yes I was very scared, but I am glad I have done it.
Nicola: Me too.
Cheryl: It was really good and such an experience.

Do you now believe that there is something out there?

Nicola: I definitely think there is something out there. It gives you hope there is life after death.
Kimberley: I was the most cynical out of us all but I do believe in it now.
Cheryl: I think something definitely exists. The ghosts do seem to go to very old places though.
Sarah: Yes definitely. I believe in it all.

Finally, why should ITV2 viewers watch your show?

Cheryl: People who don’t like us should tune in and have a good laugh watching us being scared.
Sarah: I think it would be good for viewers to see us in a different environment.
Kimberley: To have a good laugh at us!
Nicola: I agree. To laugh at us!

GHOSTHUNTING WITH GIRLS ALOUD WILL AIR ON ITV2 ON THE 12TH DECEMBER 2006