Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh has revealed she’s “kissed and made up” with former manager Louis Walsh - who she joked is like her ‘annoying uncle’.
The former X Factor judge managed the girl band made up of Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl and Kimberley when they first found fame on ITV’s Popstars: The Rivals in 2002.
But, the former band member revealed they didn’t have the best working relationship with the Mayo music mogul at the time, claiming the Westlife and Boyzone boss was better with boybands.
“I think Louis would be quite honest about this himself. I don’t know really if he knew how to handle girls,” she said.
“I think he’s great with boybands, he’s got that locked down.
“But with girls I think he was a bit like, ‘What do I do?’
Almost 20 years on, Kimberley confirmed they’ve finally settled their differences with the Irish talent boss, and jokingly described him as ‘that annoying uncle’ after years of feuding.
“Me and Louis have had our moments over the years but we’ve made up,” she confessed.
“We’ve kissed and made up and now he’s just kind of like that annoying uncle that you see and you’re like, ‘Oh here he is. No doubt he’s going to have something to say’.
“But, we’ve buried all that now, it’s all good,” Kimberley added, speaking on the Virgin Media’s The Six O’Clock Show.
Meanwhile, after former X Factor twins Jedward joined a host of famous artists to blast music industry, for having no regard for the mental health of artists, Kimberley said she felt that their band managed to escape the industry trap.
She said: “We definitely did not feel like a puppet pop group. I don’t think that the record company had ever experienced five girls that wanted to be so involved.
“Because usually you’ve got that manager in between you and the label so you can’t really get involved.
“But we didn’t know any different. We’d be like, ‘Hi, yeah we’re coming in we don’t like that song. We want to chat about it. We don’t like the new artwork, we’re coming in’.
“But for us it was actually brilliant because we learned a lot.
“We felt like we were in control of our own destiny and it felt a little bit more organic and authentic, I guess, for us.”
The singer also addressed speculation Girls Aloud will reunite next year to mark their 20th anniversary, saying: “I think it’s so lovely that people actually care and want us to do something.”
However, the 39-year-old said the group’s main focus at the moment is support their bandmate Sarah Harding, in her ongoing battle with cancer.
“Of course at the moment, our focus is just on Sarah and just supporting her through everything.”
“I think it is a real testament that people are asking are we going to do anything.
“Like, it’s 20 years so it’s lovely that people do still care.”
She added: “We just want her to feel all the love that we’re feeling from everybody going to her.”
“Our job at the moment is just to pass that back to her really and just be there for whatever she needs.”
