The Passions of Girls Aloud

Episodes

Although she had trained in ballet, ballroom and tap as a child, she had no experience in hip-hop or street dance. She spent a week in London with choreographer Kenrick "H2O" Sandy, learning basic street dancing alongside two female street dancers, and took lessons in gymnastics and popping and locking. Cole struggled with a lack of confidence, as she was unaccustomed to performing without Girls Aloud. She later attended a choreography showcase with bandmate Kimberley Walsh, where Sandy brought her onstage for her first freestyle dance in front of an audience.

Cole then flew to Los Angeles with her mother Joan. After sightseeing in Hollywood, she met with Diddy's choreographer Kennis Marquis at Millennium Studios, who taught her about dancing with style and swagger and took her shopping for hip hop fashion. The next day she went to Compton to dance with Tommy the Clown and his friends, learning krumping and participating in a block party. She continued working on her routine with two professional dancers but began to struggle with stamina due to intense training and jet lag.

After briefly returning to the UK, Cole went back to Los Angeles to practice with choreographer Tracy Phillips before auditioning for will.i.am and securing the part. She also contributed vocals to the UK radio edit of the song used in the video. At the video shoot, she watched will.i.am film his solo scenes, filmed duet scenes with him, and performed her routine on camera, though she doubted her performance afterward. Two weeks later, an advance screening of the music video was attended by Sandy, Cole's bandmates, family and friends; her performance was applauded, and she reflected positively on the experience. Sarah Harding's aspiration was to play polo, and she trained in the United Kingdom and Argentina.

Controversy

Nadine Coyle was the only member of Girls Aloud who opted out of the programme. She originally planned to lead an orchestra but backed out when show bosses would not let her switch her passion project to volunteer work in Bolivia. According to Sarah Harding, Coyle was simply more private than her bandmates and disliked appearing on reality TV. Meanwhile, the band’s website ran a “Be A Model for Nicola” contest, promising one fan the chance to model for Nicola Roberts during her final task. It later emerged that the winner would actually go to the show and get a makeover from Roberts instead. Roberts claimed she intended to honor the original offer, but the production company had the final say.