Cheryl: "Doing this 10 years on is incredible"

Something New: Cheryl and Girls Aloud release new material after three years apart.

Girls Aloud have reunited after three years apart, and for Cheryl Cole just being able to perform together ten years after Popstars: The Rivals is "an achievement in itself".

Speaking at today's highly anticipated press conference, Cheryl and the girls - Nicola, Kimberley, Sarah and Nadine - announced a new arena tour to coincide with their upcoming greatest hits album Ten. It follows on from the release of Something New, their first single in three years.

"I think its incredble that we're getting to share ten years - a decade - in music," she said. "The fact we can still be doing this ten years on is incredible. That's an achievement in itself. We still are achieving."

Cheryl also revealed that although they haven't been seen together recently, Girls Aloud have never lost touch.

She said: "We haven't been seen publicly together for three years, but we've actually been socialising the whole time, so it wasn't like: 'wow, we're together'.

"But it was emotional to talk about the fact that we're ten years down the line, and even able to be together on tour, so that was always going to be emotional."

And Nicola Roberts revealed that the girls made the decision while staying together at the same hotel they were in when they first got into the band.

With the full list of tour dates now announced, the girls were also delighted that they no longer faced the pressure of performing as solo artists.

Cheryl said: "When you're on tour sometimes you're just exhausted, so you can afford to chill a bit on the performance when theres four other people to turn to."

Kimberley added: "You dont think about it. You forget a line, someone else will sing it. You forget a move, someone else will nudge you."