Fierce and super-sexy in skin-tight shorts and a corset top, today's punked-up Kimberley Walsh has never looked hotter. Those hourglass curves honed by punishing gym sessions in preparation for her West End role as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, are perfectly exhibited in PVC - something not normally seen in Kimberley's wardrobe.
"I'm loving this look," she laughs. "It's really glam, really out there. I feel great."
But as good as she looks, Kimberley's appeal has always really been about something else. It's more about the way she smiles all the time, chats easily in that Yorkshire accent, watches Corrie, can tell you the price of a bag of Maltesers, and talks proudly about her BFF, Cheryl Cole (even revealing their secret shared passion for baking: "We absolutely love it. Cheryl does the best banana loaf and I am the scone queen.")
Of all the Girls Aloud ladies, Kimberley, 29, is the one you'd most want to hang out with. She doesn't do diva and she doesn't do personal dramas. While her bandmates - Cheryl, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle - hit headlines non-stop with their man issues, Kimberley has remained firmly attached to ex-boy-band singer, Justin Scott, 29, who she met eight years ago when he was in Triple 8.
Kimberley wears: bra, pants and gloves, all Atsuko Kudo; necklace, Merle O'Grady
She grins: "Sometimes I do look at myself and think how it's all been very easy. In a way, that makes me worry that it shouldn't be such plain sailing and wonder when something bad will happen to me! But to be honest, I always felt that bit older than the other girls so I always felt I knew myself a bit more and had a bit more of the confidence you get in that way.

"It also helps that Justin has a very normal job. He quit music and works for a promotions company. He's not interested in celebrity at all, he just doesn't care about all the dramas and that keeps us both really down to earth. It would have been very different if his band had become huge - I think we'd have been under a lot more pressure. I'm lucky to have him and I'm definitely, definitely thinking marriage and babies. I always said I wanted loads of kids, but I'm 30 next year and wondering when I'm going to fit them all in.
"We still think of ourselves as really young, but actually we do need to get going! We've bought our first proper house together, which is a home rather than a place to live. I'm incredibly lucky to be financially secure and to be with the man I want to be with for the rest of my life. I've got no excuses, really - apart from that I need to get through this show and then we're talking about the Girls Aloud reunion next year..."

Babies? I need to get on with it!

And she bursts out laughing. "And then maybe I should get on with it."
Kimberley is great company. There's nothing off-limits. She admits, for example, that she hasn't always been so relaxed about her shape: "I love my curves now. I go to the gym three times a week, partly because I want to look my best but more because I love food, and if I exercise I can eat without worrying.
"As a kid growing up, the role models for girls were women like Kate Moss, and that was tough for me because even if I barely ate anything I could never look like her. I loved it when J.Lo and Beyoncé came along because they were women I could relate to. I'm not big by any means - I'm size eight on top and size 12 on the bottom, but in the celebrity world that means I'm a big girl.
"But I'm proud of my shape because I think it sends a better message to girls. And yes, there were definitely times in Girls Aloud where it could get difficult. All of those girls are so slim and there would be the moments where they'd say: 'Let's do hot pants in the next video,' and I'd be thinking: 'Oh no!' But my attitude very quickly changed to: 'What the hell!'
So I'd look curvier in the shorts - so what? That is me and I'd think: 'I'm just standing up for all the curvy girls like me.'"
Girl gang
Just weeks ago, Girls Aloud put up a photo on Twitter as a teaser for the much-rumoured reunion tour (but Nadine was missing from the shot). All of their faces were covered with their mobiles and the message read: "Girls night in." Immediately, the photo sparked rumours that Nadine had been dropped by the band.
Kimberley's having none of it: "That was taken at my house. We all got together like we do every few months. Sadly, Nadine couldn't be with us because she was in the States, but we did miss her. There was no mystery about the picture, we just did it on the spur of the moment. We all hid our faces because we were all looking a bit spotty and we'd had a couple of bottles of wine. But we were having such a great time being together that we just wanted to share the moment with our fans. We're all talking about the reunion, maybe for next year."
Kimberley wears: jacket, Ragged Priest; top and leggings, both McQ by Alexander McQueen at Harvey Nichols; boots, Jeffrey Campbell at Urban Outfitters
Since the girls started their break two years ago, Nadine, 26, has begun to carve out a music career in America, Nicola, 25, has embarked on fashion projects and a solo career, and Sarah, 29 - who split from her fiancé Tom Crane, 31, just weeks ago - has made two films. Kimberley has gone back to her acting and musical theatre roots, appearing in the film Horrid Henry and now taking over from Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona in the hit musical Shrek.
"I'm really, really nervous," she says. "Part of me loves it, but part of me just wants to get the first few nights over with. Amanda has been great, giving me loads of advice, but it's a full-on show, lots of solos and I'm on stage almost all the time. It's incredibly exciting, all the girls are coming to see me. I think they are more excited than I am!"


But, of course, it is 28-year-old Cheryl whose star has eclipsed every member of Girls Aloud during their two year hiatus. She's gone from band member to Britain's number-one sweetheart on The X Factor, has had a best-selling solo album and become the most talked-about celebrity in the land. But alongside her success, her marriage to Ashley Cole, 30, ended after his cheating was exposed, and her chance to break America on the US version of The X Factor ended in her being humiliatingly sacked, followed by a very public fallout with former mentor Simon Cowell. More worrying are rumours that since her return to the UK, she's become close to Ashley again.
Above left: Kimberley with boyfriend Justin; right: the band on their girls' night in
For the first time, Kimberley looks on her guard. When Cheryl's relationship with Ashley broke down, it was Kimberley who went to LA to be with her; when she was dropped by Cowell, again it was Kimberley who was by her side.
The day we meet, it has emerged that the American public loved Cheryl on her single televised X Factor show - and Cowell's fellow judges Paula Abdul and LA Reid both criticised Simon for the way he got rid of her.
Tough times
Kimberley is incredibly protective of her friend: "I never for one moment doubted that Cheryl had done a fantastic job on that show," she says. "And after everything Simon has said, it's really nice that she is now being championed by everyone else involved - because I know all she ever did was turn up and do a good job.
"People don't really know Cheryl. Everybody talked about it like it was the most horrific thing, that it was this massive deal, but it wasn't like that for her. She's very much: 'That's life, some things don't work out and let's move on.'

X Factor USA is not the worst thing that's ever happened to Cheryl

"In this job, we've all had to become pretty thick-skinned, and when you're in that situation you're just dealing with the ABCs of it all. Half the time you're not even aware of what other people are thinking. It annoys me when people say this was her big American Dream. She's not like that, she doesn't operate like that. She's very much a person who decides what she's doing there and then without any big premeditated plan.

"It definitely wasn't the worst thing that's happened in her life. What she went through when she was seriously ill [Cheryl nearly died from malaria in July last year] was a life-changing experience. It was the worst thing I've ever had to deal with. I knew from the beginning what was happening and I can't even explain how terrible it was to feel that this was happening, that it was all so out of control and all so bizarre. You can't even compare what happened in America to that."
She positively guffaws at the idea Cheryl has become some sort of eccentric, sad recluse: "She's a firm believer that whatever happens, happens for a reason. And I think that's right. When we spent time together it was just because we both had a couple of days and wanted a holiday. She's really happy right now, in a really good place - the happiest I've seen her for a long time. She's a great girl, she's never changed and all of us are always there for each other. We all know that."
Super-stable Kimberley laughs off any suggestion that she's the one doling out relationship advice: "I'm probably the worst. I've only had two proper relationships and never any dramas." And she is super-sad about Sarah's break-up: "We haven't spoken much about it, but I so wanted it to be happily ever after for her. They might work things out, it's early days."
Kimberley as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical
Cheryl, she says, is the softie of the band. "People think I'm soft, and I am in a lot of ways, but I hardly ever cry whereas Cheryl, I mean, she cries at Corrie. When William and Kate got married, it was Cheryl who rang me up, dead excited, saying: 'We've got to do something!'
I hadn't been that bothered, but we decided to have a tea party at my house. Cheryl brought her banana loaf and a gorgeous lemon cake and I did my famous scones. My sister came round and we ate cake and watched every minute. During the ceremony I had a tear in my eye and I looked round at Cheryl and she was completely streaming!"
Tell Kimberley that it's hard to imagine her eating scones and she shoots back: "I've had to stop. At one point I was baking three batches a week plus a Victoria sponge - and it was me eating them. I had to get into my Princess Fiona dress, so I got addicted to watching The Great British Bake-Off instead."
It is inevitable that a Girls Aloud reunion will cause major excitement in the pop world. Since their break, no band has managed to touch them.
"The Saturdays have done well, but people don't know them individually," says Kimberley. "People got to know us in Popstars: The Rivals. Then after we won, it may have looked easy but it was incredibly tough. That was when we bonded. We kept thinking we were going to lose it all, nothing was certain and it made us stick together. It made us fighters, it made us a real team, real friends."