Girls Aloud singers plan Kilimanjaro ascent

Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh are prepared to do without makeup and fancy clothes in their climb for charity.

Travel Insurance News - 02/02/2009

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The Girls Aloud performers will participate in the eight-day trek up the 19,340ft Mount Kilimanjaro to help raise money for the charity Comic Relief. The entire trek will be taped and shown to TV audiences in the run-up to Red Nose Day on 13 March.

Walsh quipped: "The make-up and hair thing's obviously not good. The comfort's good, the clothes are comfy and that's more important."

Cole noted that she and Walsh might not be looking so glamorous on the climb but they’d be great support for one another. "If we didn't have each other I think I'd struggle to get up there so I think we're at a bit of an advantage having each other."

The two performers will be I the company of seven others as they attempt to reach the peak of Africa’s highest mountain. Other trekkers are Gary Barlow, Fearne Cotton, Alesha Dixon, Ronan Keating, Chris Moyles, Ben Shephard and Denise Van Outen.

Barlow, of Take That, came up with the idea of the climb for charity, noting that it is a challenge he hopes will "raise a mountain of cash" to buy mosquito nets aimed at helping to protect Tanzanians against malaria.

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