Girls Aloud: Off the Record is a six-part series recorded by Girls Aloud for E4 that started on 11 April 2006 at 10:30pm. The show was produced by E4 and Monkey Kingdom Productions for Channel Four Television Corporation.
The series follows Girls Aloud in the buildup to their 2006 Chemistry arena tour, from appearing on TV shows to filming the "Whole Lotta History" video in Paris, promoting in Australia and New Zealand, doing promotional appearances in Ibiza and Greece, and going on an ambassadorial trip to China. The series also follows a selection of Girls Aloud's fans, including two Australian fans who spent all their money on tickets to Girls Aloud's Wembley show. The girls' personal lives were featured too – Ashley Cole appears in the first episode.
Girls Aloud: Off the Record was repeated on Channel 4 as of 3 September 2006. A DVD of the series was released on 28 August 2006. It was originally planned to be released on 16 July (as stated on Amazon.co.uk and HMV.co.uk), but was delayed to September, as stated on the Girls Aloud official site.
Background and production In February 2006, it was announced that Girls Aloud were already in the process of filming a reality show. The programme was part of a partnership between Channel Four Television Corporation and Universal Music, created by E4 and Monkey Kingdom Productions for Channel Four. The series was produced by Vicky Crawley, while David Granger and Will Macdonald served as executive producers.
Cast
Regulars Sarah Harding Nicola Roberts Nadine Coyle Cheryl Cole Kimberley Walsh
Recurring Hilary Shaw Rachel Cooke Drew (Tour Manager) Jesse Metcalfe
Guest Stars Amelle Berrabah Samiya Berrabah Zakiya Berrabah Keisha Buchanan Ashley Cole Calum Best
Notes.
Paul Nichols narrates the entire 6-part series The regular credits order is taken from the title sequence featured in the show.
Critical reception Writing or The Observer, Paul Morley slated the show. He wrote, "the fraudulently titled Off the Record is just one long, gushing promotional push for the group, an attempt to prolong their fragile careers for just a few more months by pretending to analyse the exciting, stressful reality of being a girl in a group such as Girls Aloud attempting to transcend their manufactured roots. Sort of a smutty comedy, sort of a tragedy, sort of a gossipy, fake-provocative documentary, sort of a heavily censored electronic press kit, there's little sleaze, insight or emotional disintegration."
Episodes
Episode 1: 11 April 2006 The programme started with Cheryl going shopping at Bluewater with her mother Joan, with Cheryl talking about her arrest for assault in 2003, and the lessons she learned from the incident. Cheryl was then shown ready to go out to Julien Macdonald's show at London Fashion Week with her fiancé Ashley Cole, who was reluctant to come. At the show, Cheryl had to promote Girls Aloud to various radio and television channels, some of whom had never heard of the band. After the show, Cheryl and Ashley were driven to a restaurant for a Valentine's Day meal, followed by paparazzi. Girls Aloud's tour manager Drew let the paparazzi take pictures of Cheryl and Ashley getting into the restaurant, saying they would rather be photographed before a meal than after.
The next part started with the girls on a promotional visit to Ibiza, performing at a club night. They were then shown eating at a restaurant, where Sarah and Kimberley competed in a drinking game. Afterwards, the girls were shown relaxing by a pool in their bikinis at their private villa, when they spotted a photographer hiding in the bushes far away. The girls complained about this, but their manager Hillary Shaw said that part of the Girls Aloud package included being photographed in various situations, some of which not to their liking. Kimberley and Nadine then talked about various encounters with the paparazzi.
The girls were then shown getting ready to perform at CD:UK, with their TV plugger talking about how important television is in promoting Girls Aloud. Hillary then talked about how Girls Aloud were snubbed by the BRIT Awards, leading to a segment where the Sugababes, who were also on CD:UK, came to talk to Girls Aloud about the Brits situation. This led to a funny moment where Cheryl thought that Amelle Berrabah's older sister was her mum. The cameras then went outside to talk to some of Girls Aloud's fans, and then it was shown how hours of preparation lead to just three minutes performing on TV.
Guest stars: Amelle Berrabah, Samiya Berrabah, Zakiya Berrabah, Keisha Buchanan, Ashley Cole, Hillary Shaw
Episode 2: 18 April 2006 This episode was mostly about the promotion of Girls Aloud's 12th single "Whole Lotta History", and all the work they have to do in order to make it a hit. First the girls were shown on a couple of TV shows, and then flew to Paris to film the video. On the set, Cheryl did not understand the French film crew, and the girls found it a bit cold during filming. The record label then looked at the video, and seemed to be a bit concerned that Sarah did not appear solo in the video until a couple of minutes into the video. The girls were then shown the finished video, and Nicola did not like it, saying that she looked pale and did not have enough makeup on. The girls then said that "Whole Lotta History" deserved to be a Top 3 hit.
Next, the girls were doing a magazine shoot for GQ, showcasing themselves as glitzy showgirls. Cheryl and Kimberley were unsure about their outfits, and said that they were uncomfortable in doing the shoot. Sarah was also concerned about pictures of her that made her look like she was naked. During the shoot, Sarah's friend and rumoured lover Calum Best showed up to explain a story that had appeared in a newspaper that day about him saying bad things about Sarah. They then went away to discuss the story, and Sarah was upset when she came back onto the shoot.
The girls were then shown doing a variety of TV shows, including GMTV, Davina and Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown, looking very tired through all the TV shows they had to be on in such a short time. During these shows, the girls were kept up to date on the midweek position of "Whole Lotta History", which started out at #9 and rose up to #5. Backstage at the shows, the girls discussed their figures and other insecurities, and Nicola took time out to get a facial. Backstage at Davina, the girls met Jordan and Peter Andre – Sarah was delighted to see Jordan again.
At the end of the show, Nadine received a call from Radio 1 DJs Scott Mills and Tim Westwood, informing her that "Whole Lotta History" charted at #6, a position only Cheryl seemed to be satisfied with. The girls then started their rehearsals for the arena tour.
Guest stars: Calum Best
Episode 3: 25 April 2006 Hillary got the girls together to go through their schedule for the promotional tour of New Zealand and Australia, but Sarah was absent, having been to the hospital because of illness. However, when it came time to fly, Sarah was better and with the girls. Landing in New Zealand and recovering from the long flight, it was time for the first part of promotion. Polydor hired some local hair stylists and wardrobe people to style the girls for what they thought was a radio interview, but the staff turned up late. When they arrived, they ended up styling Nadine, Nicola and Sarah from the official wardrobe, with Cheryl having already gotten dressed in her own clothes while Kimberley had fallen ill. This led to a massive argument between Cheryl and the head stylist over the delay and the changed plans, which now included the girls going on TV instead of on the radio, with Cheryl fearing that she would look out of place not dressed in wardrobe. This led to their first day of promotion running late.
The girls were next shown rehearsing for their first show of the tour, in a small theatre in Auckland. The girls got annoyed that Polydor had sent them the wrong backing tape for "Sound of the Underground", and there were more wardrobe problems. But when it was time for the show, and seeing the large crowd that had turned up, Girls Aloud were motivated to give a great performance for their New Zealand fans, who went away very impressed.
The next morning, it was time to fly to Sydney, Australia, but Cheryl was hungover from having drunk three cocktails and wine at Nadine's mini bar the night before. Cheryl was feeling incredibly ill, and had vomited up the toast she had eaten. After arriving at the hotel, she again vomited outside on the ground, with Hillary comforting her. Once in Sydney, Cheryl recovered, and the girls continued their promotion, going on various TV and radio shows, including one that most of their hardcore Australian fans came to see. Their biggest Australian fans, Emily and Lang, won a competition to meet the girls at a visit to Taronga Zoo. At the zoo, the girls got close to the koalas and kangaroos, and Emily and Lang got close to the girls.
Relaxing by the pool after the promotion, Nadine got a phone call from Desperate Housewives actor Jesse Metcalfe, who invited her on a date. On the same night, the other girls went out to a bar in Sydney for a wild night of drinking, which finished early for Cheryl after the earlier problems she had with drink. Kimberley, Nicola and Sarah continued their night of fun, partying without fear of being noticed, until Kimberley and Nicola went back to the hotel at 2am, leaving Sarah on her own to continue clubbing. The next morning, Nadine revealed that her date with Jesse went well and that he gave her a bouquet of flowers. The promotional tour was over with great success – Girls Aloud had entered the Top 30 of the Australian chart.
Guest stars: Jesse Metcalfe (scenes deleted)
Episode 4: 2 May 2006 The Girls were in Athens for two corporate shows that are major paydays for the group. After having performed at the first show, the second show was not for another couple of days, so Sarah decided to fly back home to see her family, and then fly back to Athens for the second show. The other girls were bored doing nothing in their hotel, so their tour manager Drew decided to take them up to the highest vantage point in Athens – without the girls knowing where they were going. Unfortunately for Cheryl, she happened to be wearing spiked heeled shoes, which were not ideal for climbing up tall hills. Kimberley was not happy with the experience either, unusually for her. After they got back down the hill using a cable-car, they realised that they did not know how to get back to their hotel, so they had to cram into a regular taxi – not exactly glamorous travel for Girls Aloud. To make up for a miserable trip, Drew took the girls and their dancers to a Greek bar and restaurant, where they got drunk and merry, although according to Drew, not as much as usual.
Returning home, Nicola drove back to her home town of Runcorn to see her family. First she went to the local park to see her little brother Harry playing football for his local team, coached by their dad. Harry's team won the game, and Nicola in rather biased fashion gave the man of the match award to Harry, signing autographs for the other members of the team. Nicola then went home and cringed as she was shown old videos of her as a little girl. After that, she took Harry and her other younger brother Clayton to a restaurant for a day out, with Nicola talking about the importance of staying close to her family despite being famous, and valuing having a family to come back to after Girls Aloud.