Their early afternoon slot was one of the highlights of that festival, but still, few fans might\u2019ve expected the group would then make the leap to the London version of the festival: Not least because Bardot never quite broke in the UK (their only single release there, Poison, only made it to number 40, a stark contrast to its status as a multi-platinum number one hit here in Australia). <\/p>\n
But for the reunited members of Bardot \u2013 Belinda Chapple, Katie Underwood, Tiffani Wood and Sally Polihronas (Sophie Monk has distanced herself from the group since their initial split) \u2013 the opportunity to perform at the UK\u2019s biggest pop festival appeared too good to pass up. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s reunion came as such a surprise because of how many false starts had preceded it. The group earlier attempted a 10-year reunion<\/a> which never got off the ground. Three of the members then reunited over Zoom in 2020 to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut single \u2013 but by the time talk had turned to future plans, the reunion had whittled down to a two-piece of Belinda and Katie, who released new music as a pop duo called Ka\u2019Bel<\/a>. <\/p>\n As all this unfolded, Chapple released a memoir<\/a> about her time in the group, 2023\u2019s The Girl In the Band, which went some way to explaining why each member might have her own complicated relationship with the notion of reforming: Chapple wrote candidly about the financial exploitation the group suffered behind the scenes, as well as a shockingly sudden split that left several members devastated. <\/p>\n Indeed, Polihronas noted on Instagram<\/a> this week that even as recently as a year ago she would\u2019ve said a Bardot reunion would never happen. But she said that she realised a love of performing was \u201cstill calling\u201d her, and she felt compelled to follow that passion, particularly with her 50th birthday approaching later this month (she\u2019ll be the third member of the group to hit the milestone). <\/p>\n \u201cAfter years away from the stage, I realised something wasn\u2019t quite finished. One day I heard myself say to a friend, \u2018I just love shows. I love rehearsing. I love performing.\u2019 It was a simple truth, but it hit me hard,\u201d the Sydney-based mum of two wrote. <\/p>\n She said that when approached to reunite in January, the answer was an immediate yes: \u201cNot because I wanted to relive the past, but because it felt aligned. Yes to London. Yes to my daughters seeing their mum doing something she loves. Yes to revisiting a chapter that still had something to teach me.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow member Tiffani, now a Gold Coast mother of six children, said she was grateful to have more time to prepare for the London show after the rush behind the scenes to get the group ready for their brief Sydney slot. <\/p>\n \u201cFor Sydney Hoopla we didn\u2019t get a lot of time to get an outfit together – well we didn\u2019t get a lot of time to get anything together lol so when London Hoopla was a go I had the chance to be more me,\u201d she said, sharing her \u201cBoho Cowgirl\u201d stage costume on social media<\/a>. <\/p>\n And encouragingly for fans, it seems like Bardot\u2019s 2026 reunion might not have wrapped with these two festival shows. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have ended our Hoopla 2026 journey on such a high, & behind the scenes spent so many days & nights working on getting Bardot back up & happening, that it would be a compete travesty not to continue,\u201d the group wrote on Instagram yesterday<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cSo with that being said, stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n