To help promote "Love Machine" the girls appeared for the second time in men's magazine FHM, each with their own front covers and wearing very little clothing. As you can imagine, the shoot went down a storm with the lads and Girls Aloud were pronounced "Officially Cool".









The girls were chosen for the official Children In Need 2004 song with their seventh single, a cover of The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You". This was a dream come true for the girls (and the fans) because it was the best chance the girls had had of getting a number one since "Sound Of The Underground". Sure enough, "I'll Stand By You" went straight in at No. 1 and stayed there for 2 weeks! The curse of No.2's had be broken and the girls helped to raise tons of money for Children In Need.





After another No.1 smash, it was time for the girls' second album. "What Will The Neighbours Say?" (titled from a lyric in Love Machine) was praised by some of the most critical reviewers out there. Sadly, it only went in at Number 6 but with albums it's the sales figures that count. There's serious competition in the album charts at Christmas time and had it been released earlier in the year it would easily have made No. 1.






The moment the fans had been waiting for... December 2004 saw the girls announce that they would be doing their first UK tour in May 2005! Ticket sales were very high and with many venues selling out straight away, extra dates were added. After a break at the start of 2005 the girls returned to our screens with big-hair and bikes as they started promotion for single number eight; "Wake Me Up". It was a bit rockier than previous singles and the video was a hit with the lads. It saw the girls riding Harley Davidson's whilst doing their hair and nails! It entered the charts at number four, probably because so many people already had the album.


Whilst taking a break from their tour rehersals, the girls attended the 2005 TMF Awards and walked away with the award for "Best UK Act"! All five also featured in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women In The World 2005" with Nicola at number 77 (beating Jennifer Aniston!), Kimberley at 44, Nadine at 35 and Sarah at number 8. Cheryl came in at number two making her the second sexiest woman in the world, beaten only by Kelly Brooke!






After six months of waiting since booking tickets, it was finally time for the "What Will The Neighbours Say? Live" 2005 tour. The girls did 24 dates all over the UK throughout May and the beginning of June and were supported by Kute, Cookie and Triple Eight on some dates. The show lasted just over an hour and consisted of four costume changes, fifteen tracks, lots of sexy male dancers and a Girls Aloud dance-off! The show was praised by the critics and the girls couldn't have been prouder; all saying it was the highlight of their careers.