The news that The Pussycat Dolls are reuniting has brought all sorts of joy into our lives. A reminder to enjoy their back catalogue on Spotify. The memory of the famous battle between Melody and Nicole. And, perhaps best and juiciest of all, a video from the archives of Girls Aloud slagging off Nicole Scherzinger.
The video, which was filmed in 2009, is an interview with all five members, in which they’re asked what they think of the Pussycat Dolls.
Sarah and Nadine seem to go for the old, 'if you can't say anything nice' adjage, but Cheryl Nicola and Kimberly aren’t holding back, prompting viewers to ask: ‘Who put 50p in Cheryl?’
‘There’s that one who really, really annoys me who goes [high pitched singing noise] all the time so you can’t really hear anybody else,' Cheryl starts, seeming totally calm about dragging a fellow woman of the music industry.
Kimberly then chimes in, ‘They wanted to launch her [Nicole] as a solo artist in the beginning didn’t they, and then they brought the dancers in, and it has worked better that way.' (To clarify, we've no idea if that's true or not).
Cheryl then throws the PCD squad a bone, saying ‘when you’ve got dancers like that, performers, it’s just like, wow - breathtaking’.
Nicola then joins in, saying ‘I would actually like to hear the other girls sing,’ a nice idea which Cheryl very quickly pours water on, saying, ‘I don’t know if they can. They’re more dancers’. Which someone harsher than us might suggest was the pot calling the kettle black.
The interviewer then asks whether Nicole could make it as a solo artist (which, in case you’ve forgotten about her epic 2010 single Don’t Hold Your Breath, she did). The Girls Aloud cohort don’t seem convinced.
Cheryl shakes her head and says, ‘you’ve got so many fantastic solo artists out there, you’ve got the likes of Beyonce, Christina… Britney, when she’s at her best. It’s just like…’
‘Can you keep up with that?’ adds Nicola ‘I don’t deny that she’s extremely talented but I don’t think she’s got that thing that Christina’s got.'
If nothing else it’s a nice illustration of how the world has moved on in the last decade, and interviewers no longer rely on pitting women against other women. It’s unthinkable that in 2019 you’d see Little Mix slagging off Billie Eilish or similar.
Our main take-away question is, did Nicole have any idea about this interview when she and Cheryl were co-judges on the X Factor?
Now let's revisit all of Girls Aloud's album artwork
Girls aloud vintage album covers SLIDER
1 of 8Chemistry
Am I looking at the most awkward artistic rendition of Stepford Wives, or is that just me? And can someone please explain why they are using knee-high heeled boots as stockings?
2 of 8The Sound Of The Underground
I am living for Nicola Robert's side-pony.
3 of 8No good Advice
More attitude than a teenage girl experiencing her first dose of PMS.
4 of 8See The Day
Circa See The Day, Lily Allen had convinced everyone that vintage prom dresses were cool. How? Who knows. Add in that Amy Winehouse had made the case for peep-toe heels and you can see how this artwork came to life.
5 of 8Love Machine
I can practically hear the art director shouting: 'play with your sunglasses more'.
6 of 8The Promise
In moments like this, I always feel sorry for Nicole as this is proof that until very recently make-up artists had no clue what do with red heads.
7 of 8Biology
I call this 'Attack of the Gok Wan styling school'. Those cinched belts and lingerie-inspired outfits may have been aiming for Dolce & Gabbana, but they landed closer to Lipsy.
8 of 8Can't Speak French
Between the powdered make-up, stiff corseting and dodgy Moulin Rouge theme I've come up with a conspiracy theory: this isn't a group shot, it's a work of photoshop mayhem