Kimberley Jane Scott (née Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is a British singer, dancer, television presenter and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The series announced that Walsh had won a place as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud. The group achieved large success, having twenty consecutive top ten singles (including four number ones) in the UK, six studio albums have all been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), two of which went to number one in the UK, and accumulating a total of five BRIT Award nominations. In 2009, Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise".
During the group's hiatus, Walsh embarked on acting and presenting. In July 2010, she became a presenter on the music talkshow, Suck My Pop and presented coverage for the BAFTA Awards. In 2011, she appeared in Horrid Henry: The Movie as Prissy Polly. Musically, Walsh has featured on Aggro Santos's "Like U Like". In 2012, Walsh made her West End theatre debut, playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical. She also fronted the 2009 Autumn/Winter collection for the fashion chain New Look and, in January 2011, she was revealed as the new face of Puma AG. In 2012, Walsh took part in Strictly Come Dancing, where she finished as one of the runners-up.
Since 2011, after making her West End debut in Shrek, Walsh has returned to perform in stage versions of films such as Elf in 2015, before Big and Sleepless in Seattle both in 2019.
Walsh was born on 20 November 1981 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, the daughter of John and Diane Walsh. She grew up with three siblings, Sally, Amy and Adam Walsh in Allerton, West Yorkshire. Sally played the character of Lyn Hutchinson on the soap opera Emmerdale between 1997 and 2000, and Amy joined the show's cast in 2014 as Tracy Shankley.
Walsh attended Sandy Lane Primary School, Stoney Lee Middle School, and Beckfoot Grammar School, and had her first taste of fame appearing in an Asda advert as a child along with sister Sally. She starred as Young Cosette in a regional production of Les Misérables and starred in ITV's The Book Tower in 1986. Walsh attended the Bradford theatre school, Stage 84, and briefly taught there.
Walsh auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 with the song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go". Several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. Walsh did not initially make it into the group of ten female contestants who were to appear on the show. However, when another contestant was disqualified on a technicality, she found herself on the show. These finalists then took to the stage participating in weekly Saturday night live performances which alternated weekly between the girls and boys. Each week, the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. Walsh joined Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Cheryl Tweedy to comprise the new girl group Girls Aloud, formed through the show by a public vote on 30 November 2002.
The group's debut single, "Sound of the Underground", peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one. The group released their debut album, Sound of the Underground, in May 2003, which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later the same year. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" have charted at number one. Two of their albums have reached the top of the UK Albums Chart: their greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud and 2008's Out of Control, both of which entered the chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold.
They also achieved seven certified albums and have been nominated for five Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise".
The group's musical style is pop, but throughout their career they had experimented with electropop and dance-pop. Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim, due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £30 million by May 2010. Guinness World Records lists them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition. They also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition, and are credited again for "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2011 edition. The group was also named the United Kingdom's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century, with over 4.3 million singles sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone.
In July 2009, Girls Aloud announced they would take a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects. Walsh revealed that she does not think it is possible Girls Aloud will ever "officially break up". She explained that they are planning to tour again and will probably take breaks from time to time, doing solo projects but they will never permanently go their separate ways.
After Girls Aloud's three years of hiatus, the group reunited for their 10th anniversary. The group released their new single, "Something New" on 18 November 2012. The music video for the song was filmed in October 2012, and premiered on YouTube on 19 October 2012. The song was also the official charity single for Children in Need in 2012. The group released their second greatest hits compilation, Ten on 26 November 2012. In 2013, the group embarked on Ten - The Hits Tour 2013. They announced their disbanding shortly after the tour ended.
In May and June 2024, Walsh and her Girls Aloud bandmates got back together for an arena tour titled The Girls Aloud Show in memory of their late bandmate Sarah Harding.
It was first rumoured that Walsh was about to make a record deal with her band's record label, Fascination Records, although nothing has been confirmed. Soon after the rumour, Walsh confirmed on Suck My Pop, a programme that she co-hosts on the television channel Viva in the United Kingdom, that she will feature on English rapper Aggro Santos' upcoming single, "Like U Like". The track will be her first step away from Girls Aloud as a singer. Walsh was asked for OK! Magazine: "Kimberley, there are rumours, that you will be releasing a solo album..." and Walsh said: "Gosh! I haven't got any plan to do that. Gary Barlow signed Aggro Santos and he asked me to sing Like U Like, and I've done a song for the Horrid Henry film that I'm in titled "Everybody Dance". I'm not sure about doing anything big on my own just yet." In 2012 she made her West End theatre debut, playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical. The announcement came after Amanda Holden announced her pregnancy in August 2011. Walsh teamed up with Alfie Boe to record a version of Queen's "One Vision" as the Official Olympic Team Great Britain Single. Walsh has also performed with several artists including Neyo with "Hate That I Love You", Ronan Keating's "No Matter What" and James Cullum with "Rainy Days and Mondays". In August 2012 it was announced that Walsh is in discussions with Gary Barlow to release a solo album for a 2013 release.
On 7 September 2012, Walsh was announced as one of the 14 celebrities, competing in tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. Her professional partner is last year's runner-up Pasha Kovalev. She received three perfect 40s during the series, and she finished as one of the runners-up alongside presenter Denise Van Outen, behind the winner Olympian Louis Smith.
On 4 February 2013, Walsh released, through Decca Records, her debut album, Centre Stage, which features a series of popular musical tunes as well as two brand new tracks.