Sarah Harding: I'm a lairy gobshite - but a softie inside

Sarah Harding, Girl's Aloud's boozer-in-chief, has just spent a good hour attempting to persuade us that she's 'not a p*sshead'. And then she goes and regales us with a tale of staying up all night on the vodka during the band's recent trip to Moscow.'We were still drunk the next day. I thought we'd pulled up at the BBC in London, so I'm like, “Oooh, are we here?” But we were at Moscow airport,' she says, thus blowing her freshly created wholesome image in one easy move. Which is great, cos that's the way we like her. We want our pop stars with balls. And all the better if they like a tipple and fall over in their 6-inch Manolos on the way out of Mahiki now and then.So back to tales of Moscow. 'We had a celebratory drink in the hotel bar after our last show and some of us decided to stay up all night and drink. And then we bumped into Boy George. Oh my God, I collared him. We were half cut and I was like, “Oi you”. He slated us at the Vodafone Live Music Awards – he said, “I don't know why they're here, they're just a bunch of pretty girls,” so I retaliated,' she tells us. 'I was like, “Why don't you come along to one of our gigs if you're not too busy sweeping sh*t off the streets of New York?” Maybe he's just jealous because our make-up is better than his. I gave him a good grilling and then he sat round having a drink with us. I think he found it quite amusing. I was so proud of myself for not being a shrinking violet. I'm not bitchy, but if someone bites at me first, I'll bite back.'So there you go. Feisty. But also way lovelier than you'd ever imagine, and extremely partial to a good natter. So much so, that her words get a bit jumbled at times ('I'm not going to blow wind up my own a*se,' she says about being nominated for a Brit award. 'That's not a saying at all is it?'). The conversation veers around all sorts of subjects from her feud with her Dad ('I don't speak to him any more – we've been estranged for the past seven years. I'm sure at some point we might build bridges, but right now, there's too much else going on, it's too stressful to think about') to how much she loves the Arctic Monkeys ('They're so sweet. I met them at the NME awards and I'd drunk so much wine Alex and Matt were on either side of me helping me up the stairs. They were all like, “Ooh, me nan loves Girls Aloud”.')Pretty much the only topic not to be discussed is her bandmate Cheryl Cole's marriage problems, a subject which we've been warned is off limits.Sarah, unlike poor, undeserving Cheryl, is currently loved-up. Today, she's jetlagged to the max (while still looking frustratingly fresh-faced) after flying home from Thailand, where she's been holidaying with her DJ beau Tom Crane, and, before that, the pair were skiing in Norway.'I was like Bambi on ice, I barely got off the nursery slopes. Tommy was snowboarding and I'm like, “Yeah, see you babes”. He took me up a massive mountain one day and I'm like, “How the f*ck am I supposed to get down there?”. I do like a challenge, though.'And rising to a challenge is one of the reasons we're here today. Sarah is about to star in The Passions Of... Girls Aloud, a new ITV2 series where all the girls (minus Nadine, more of which later) have a bash at learning a new skill. Sarah's choice was the favoured activity of the über-posh – polo, which she learnt to play in Argentina.'Hanging out with toffs really isn't my cup of tea, but I do like a good boisterous sport,' she says. 'I don't like people who pussyfoot around me and are like, “Oh darling, darling”. I'd rather they go to me, “That was f*cking sh*t, go and do it again, you loser”.'So she didn't fancy all those swarthy South American sporty types? 'I don't know why everyone says they're so sexy. The women are beautiful, but I can't say I saw any fit men. I haven't got a roving eye anyway, I've got my man. I missed him terribly, I wish I could have dragged him along, but he'd have been bored sh*tless.'She, on the other hand was far from bored.'It was full-on, I felt like a gladiator. I was all strapped up, I had knee pads on, a helmet with a guard, a stick. I was in loads of pain, it was really intense training. I was sweating cobbs. I was playing against pro-level Argentinians and they were like, “Oh we're not going easy on her, she knows what she's doing”.'Sarah started riding horses when she was a nipper.'My parents couldn't afford to buy me one though. I'm not from a “I'm going to buy my daughter a pony” family,' she says. 'The first time I rode, I had no bridle, no saddle. My cousins took me over a jump and I didn't come off. I've always been a good rider, me and horses get on.'There's riding horses, though, and there's becoming a professional polo player in 10 days (for that was the challenge). Did she pull it off then?'Well, the actual finale didn't happen as it was supposed to because of bad weather, so we ended up doing it back in the UK. And that sh*t me up more because all my family and the girls were there. My man was so proud.'Her man was also rather appreciative of her post-polo body. 'I was using muscles I've never used before. I felt like I was 90-years-old and I was walking like John Wayne. But I was totally toned afterwards. I tone up really easily anyway, and Tommy certainly noticed – trust him. I've let myself go a bit since, I'm a bit...' she says, grabbing at her thighs, though we've seen more meat at a vegan dinner party.Tommy and Sarah clearly fancy the pants off each other, and, despite being together for just 10 months, are happily shacked up in Sarah's north London house. And they're looking forward to an even bigger dose of domestic bliss in the future.'Fingers crossed if me and Tommy are still going strong, we've got plans to move out and build our own place. There's some land we've got our eye on. I want to be out in the country, riding horses, sitting by a big log fire and being a home bod,' she says.Which of course isn't at all in keeping with the 'raging p*sshead' persona. 'It does annoy me. When I go out, I let off some steam. Most 26-year-olds in London are doing that every night,' she stresses. 'But I'm a character in the band, I love an audience and when I'm out and about, of course I'm going to play up when people egg me on. I'm an exhibitionist and I can be really feisty because I don't like people to see my vulnerabilities. The people who see the soft Sarah are those close to me. I've got to have something for myself. But when I go up on stage it's like I'm possessed. I become the loud, lairy gobshite, it's like, “F*cking hell, let's have it”.'Sarah Harding, the Liam Gallagher of pop. And, despite the log fires, animal loving and the fact she's a pleasant, polite young lass, long may she continue to be so. Because Girls Aloud have always been a little bit bad, a little bit sassy, and a lot removed from most bland pop bands. It's only rock 'n' roll, but heck do we like it...The Passions Of... Girls Aloud starts on ITV2 next monthSarah goes solo?'If I went solo, I'd be different from what I do now, I think I'd go 4 Non Blondes-ey. The music industry is scary and, with the girls, we're there for each other. The thought of getting on stage in front of thousands of people on my own scares the bejesus out of me.'Those break-up rumours...Their TV venture is the latest reason for the 'Girls Aloud set to split' rumours, what with Sarah, Cheryl, Kimberley and Nicola going their separate ways to make documentaries, and Nadine not being involved at all. Which must mean she's about to leave the band and move to Beverly Hills to shack up, then break up, then shack up again with Jesse Metcalfe? 'Nadine is more reserved, she doesn't take to doing reality TV. Her passion is her singing,' says Sarah. But while it's been said Nads refused to take part because the makers wouldn't let her do charity work, she did try to make a show, she just wasn't much cop. 'She was going to do orchestra conducting, but it was harder than she anticipated,' explains Sarah. 'It didn't work out, so she pulled out.' Of course Girls Aloud are used to rumours the band is over, despite the fact they have a new album, Tangled Up, a single, Can't Speak French, and are going on tour. 'We're going on a 22-date tour,' says Sarah. 'If we're breaking up, how are we going to do that? Get cartoon copies of ourselves?'Sarah tackled polo for an ITV2 show