‘They’re like my sisters, but people don’t even know the story,’ says during her ‘Behind the Music’ episode.
Nicole Scherzinger opened up about her life in the Pussycat Dolls during VH1’s “Behind the Music” special, which aired on Sunday night. During the episode, Scherzinger shared that the group’s vocals, including a majority of the background ones, came from her.
“I love those girls. They’re like my sisters, but people don’t even know the story. They have no idea,” Scherzinger said. “I was in the center because I was the one singing. Ah man, I hope that I don’t get in trouble for the stuff that I say.”
“I’ll never forget after I finished the album [2005’s] PCD, and [A&R executive] Ron [Fair] and I brought the girls into the studio and played it for them. And this was the first time they had heard the music,” she continued. “Do you understand what I’m saying? We played the album for the Pussycat Dolls. It was the first time they had heard the songs … I probably did 95 percent of the album on my own.”
For his part, Fair backs up Scherzinger’s claim that she acted more or less as the sole voice of the Pussycat Dolls over the course their time together. The group eventually went on a permanent hiatus back in 2009and was later recast by PCD founder Robin Antin at the top of 2012.
“Melody [Thornton] sang a bit, here and there, but the records were Nicole, with the exception of an occasional ad lib. They were created with her. The other girls worked just as hard. They traveled just as hard. They showed up. They rehearsed. They were all part of it,” Fair said during the special. “It was just a group, but Nicole was the singer. The girls should have been gracious all along and said that the whole time.”
Since parts of Scherzinger’s episode began to leak last week, one of the former Dolls has reacted to her statements. Kaya Jones, who was in the group from 2003 and 2006, told TMZ that “there was a lot more going on behind the scenes” which led to Nicole being the main singer of the group.
“Nicole was always someone who wanted to be in the spotlight and would do pretty much anything to get it,” she said. “To call the other girls in the Pussycat Dolls ‘window dressings’ is a bit farfetched … every girl in the group was talented.”
During the revealing episode, Nicole also opened up her eight-year battle with bulimia. “I did it every day for, like, years,” Scherzinger said. “Every time I had a second to be alone, I was doing something to myself. You get, like, blisters on your hands or scars on your hands, and I’d try to hide those. I think the girls could tell.”
“I just hated myself,” Scherzinger continued. “I hated myself. I really was so disgusted with myself and so embarrassed. I felt so alone. I was in a group, and I never felt so alone in my life.”
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