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Nicole Scherzinger says she believes the coverage of The Pussycat Dolls at the height of their fame was tainted by sexism and wouldn’t happen “to a guy group”.
Scherzinger, who was speaking alongside her bandmates in an interview with The Times, said: “It’s sad that, with whatever people are writing out there, they pit women against each other.
“They did it with Little Mix. They don’t do that with guy groups,” she added.
The all-female group, whose current five members are Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt and Jessica Sutta, are launching a comeback tour and new song, “React”.
It is their first recording since the breakup of the band in 2010 and the pursuit of separate career paths: Scherzinger most notably as a judge on reality TV show, The X Factor.
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Scherzinger says she thinks the band are unfairly criticised: “If you have people like Lizzo leading the movement of accepting yourself and they don’t get any criticism, then why are we getting this criticism?
“When we perform, we perform from a place of passion and power. We’re not floundering out there just trying to be cute. We come like warriors out there and people feel empowered by that.”
The group was founded in 1995 initially as a burlesque troupe and included Baywatch star Carmen Electra.
Between 2005 and 2010 they sold 15 million albums and 40 million singles.
The 31-year-old said in an interview with The Guardianthat it had affected her from her teenage years until her early thirties and only stopped when a doctor warned it could damage her singing.
“It was a real awakening for me,” she said. “I was living in a very dark world. I was either working or tormenting myself.”
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