“The Pussycat Doll Saved Me” Kimberly Wyatt Opens Up About Her Traumatic Past…

24:34Davina McCall:Give it a try. Download Salee in the App Store or by scanning the QR code that's on your screen right now. And for a cheeky 15 % off your first purchase, you can use the code DAVINA at checkout. That's DAVINA for 15 % off. Our sponsors, Paramount Plus, have sent me a peek at their new original series, The Madison. Press play, Jeremy, I'm so excited. Go! You know, at night... Look at the scenery. ...the bull elk come down to the river and bugle. And it drives the lady elk. Oh my God, already, stop! Kurt Russell. Still got it.

25:17Davina McCall:Michelle Pfeiffer looks epic. She looks so good. The worry is what you do next. I know you are hurting your own. Wait, stop. I'm going to cry a lot, aren't I? I think it's going to be one of those ones. I'm going to be howling. I have a very small window to feed this. Yes, that's how I feel. Yes, Michelle!

25:43Davina McCall:You know one of those dramas where you just go, yes, at the television? It's going to be that. I can tell already. If you like Begin Again, you're going to like this because there are life stories that we will all recognise and be able to relate to. I'm scrapping all my plans for tonight. I'm going to watch this non-stop because The Madison is streaming right now on Paramount+. Get on it. I want to go back to the Pussycat Dolls because I'm still, I'm going all over the place. But it's fascinating. Yeah. So you'd left home. You were going to New York in the holidays. For scholarships, yeah. You were doing the scholarships.

26:21Davina McCall:And then you went to dance, like you left at sort of 17 to go to LA. I went, at 17, I drove to Las Vegas. Vegas, I mean. To get, to do some auditions. Yeah. And ended up on cruise ships. Yeah. So I did cruise ships for a couple years. Yeah. Was horrendously seasick. couldn't keep my weight under control it was a lot of things happening those times and I just wanted to find work on land and I always went back to those music videos and living color and these things that I loved and Miss Stephanie that one person in my life that was such a driving force always said LA is where it's at if you want to do that kind of work film and television you've got to go to LA so you went from Vegas to LA drove to LA didn't know a soul Wow.

27:07Davina McCall:I didn't know. I saw. Yeah. So you didn't know anybody, you just turned up in LA? I turned up in LA with a bag of the dream. I looked everywhere for roommates. I thought the rent would be much cheaper than it was. I realized this was going to be hard. But I found a roommate that I was living with for a while, which was crazy, but got through it and just slowly started working my way into the LA life. showed up in a leotard and tights and a ballet bun into a Brian Friedman class, was like, I have got a lot to learn here. So just explain to everybody who Brian Friedman is. So Brian Friedman is probably most well known as being Britney Spears' choreography for I'm a Slave and all of her big tours.

27:48He's done such phenomenal work. Dancing for Janet Jackson was just in a Lady Gaga video. He has sort of been like the one to go for when it comes to being a working dancer in L.A. at that time. He was a choreographer for X Factor over here for quite some time. So a lot of people might know him from that. But he's formidable and incredible.

28:09Davina McCall:I bet he loved you. Well, you know what? When it came down to it, I was working for him and doing a fitness video for him, Be Free. And when I got the call for the Pussycat Dolls, I had to sort of choose because Brian was like, you can either come with me and we'll go on a Britney Spears tour or you're going to have to do Pussycat Dolls. and I had to choose between Brian Friedman and Pussycat Dolls. Yeah. Because you've got no guarantee that Pussycat Dolls is going to be big. None. And how old were you when they were looking for people to come and join a new girl group, like to form a new band?

28:47When I had arrived to LA, I was looking for roommates. I could see on the wall there was these things about the Pussycat Dolls with Carmen Electra and all these people that would like to go and watch the shows like Justin Timberlake and Dr. Dre and the cast of the OC at the time. I was like, what is this? It looked cool. Remember the little hush, the little shushing on the picture and the outfits they were wearing and fishnets and corsets and all this. I was like, what is it? And it just so happened that in Living Color Dream, I was doing a TV show called Cedric the Entertainer Presents, and it was very much like in Living Color with sketches.

29:19And he had his Fly Girls, which was one of my first big TV shows as one of the Fly Girls. Oh, wow. And another one of them, Nadine, was one of the original Pussycat Dolls. And she would tell me about doing this Maxim cover shoot and doing all these photo shoots and performances. So I kind of had an idea about it. So how many girls were there in the Pussycat Dolls at the time? Because there were a lot, right? A lot. It was around for over 10 years before we were ever a recording group. So, I mean, the number of Pussycat Dolls. It was a dance troupe type of thing. It was built on the backs of the dance community.

29:50And it was a dance troupe with celebrity guests. and they'd have guests like Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani and Brittany Murphy, Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson, just so many incredible celebrities who would come and be a part of the show. So it definitely had a buzz about it. It was like, God, I would get anything to be able to do something like that. How long did it take you? Well, I was at an audition for it. One and a half minutes. I know you. I know you. Two days. Two days. What was it? I don't know if you remember the MTV show The Newlyweds. Yeah, of course. Yeah, Jessica Simpson auditioned for it.

30:24And it was all documented. And Robin Anton, who's the creator of the group, was the one choreographing. So she saw me at that audition. And that night, not only did I get the job, but I also got a call about, would you come join the Pussycat Dolls? So I was like, sure. And at the time, Davina, there must have been like between 12 and 20 girls in the group. Wow. There was lots of us.

30:46Davina McCall:Yeah. Yeah. And so they'd change you around and for different events. and would you sometimes all go to something? Yeah, we did The Viper Room. Oh, with Johnny Depp. With Johnny Depp. Yeah, amazing. He was the reason it was called The Pussycat Dolls. He owned The Viper Room when they were doing their first shows with Christina Applegate and it was all sort of burlesky, cabaret inspired and he's like, you've got to give this a name. I want it every week. And so Robin went away and was like, Pussycat Kill. There was like these beautiful films from way back when that she sort of pulled from and it became The Pussycat Dolls.

31:16Davina McCall:I mean, I'm already just kind of getting such a flavor of you, the grafter, doing anything it takes to get where you want to get to. Not in a kind of I'm going to stand on someone's head to get there, but the personal effort that you will put in. So tell me about the person that was putting the Pussycat Dolls together. What kind of demands did they make on you to be in the group? Yeah. In the beginning, it was just a group of us. And as it was progressing, you know, Gwen Stefani did the show. She brought her label and that's when they decided, oh, there's there's something here. So as it was progressing, you know, there was a strong group of core members that could feel the ground shaking beneath them.

32:02And I'll tell you what, it wasn't easy. You know, we were doing shows with 12 of us as the recording group was trying to figure out who was going to be the main cast.

32:10Davina McCall:Now that's where it starts getting difficult, right? That's where it starts getting difficult. But I'll tell you what, that first show I did, it was with Pink at an E3 electronics convention. And it was the first time I'd had my fishnets and heels and hair all dolled up and makeup. And coming from where I did with such very little confidence, when those curtains opened, there was never a feeling like it about owning my space and feeling powerful and not having to give anything away, but being able to just own it, standing shoulder to shoulder with these amazing, talented women that was like, yes, this is this is the dream.

32:44I'm living it right now. So then when it came to the recording group and making changes, I was fighting for my life. I was like, no, there's something in me that's telling me I'm supposed to be here. I just didn't want didn't want that dream to go drifting. But it came close. That was a tough, tough moment in my life. I think because of there being a founding, the founding sort of members of the dolls who'd been in it for quite some time and had had a lot of success together with Carmen. As the label was looking at bringing in new people and kind of changing things around, as expected, I think everybody was kind of fighting for their lives, not wanting their dream to come to an end.

33:25Davina McCall:You're kind of pitted against each other in a way. And I know what a woman's woman you are. Yeah. And after everything that you'd been through and being helped by women. Yeah. And being not helped by women. You know, it's like suddenly you're pitted against women that you've been dancing with. It's horrible. I would never want to feel like a threat to anybody. No. You know, and all I want to do is sort of lift up the room and show that we're in together. But I know you as that person. That's who I am. So I can't imagine how horrible that must have felt. It was horrendous. I didn't know how to deal with it.

34:02And of course, I would just internalize it. Because when we did Don't You, I was still on the chopping block. A lot of the group shots I wasn't in. One of the dance scenes, I'm dancing in my socks because I was trying to go on my belly to go down the banister to make epic moments because I had to show them that I was undeniably needed in this group. I went to every extent I could.

34:22Davina McCall:I'm going to have to go back and watch the video again. Yeah, you'll see it. No, but what's funny is knowing that about you and then watching it will be interesting. Yeah. Because you were fighting for your life. I was fighting for my life. And Andrea Lieberman, who was Gwen Stefani's stylist, she came on board to do this video. I would say hours after practice to either help other girls feel good, help with creation. I mean, when I became a doll, not only was I being a doll, I was helping buy costumes, go to vintage shops, sewing, rhinestoning, staying up all night, doing anything I could to show just how much.

35:00One, I just wanted to learn and be a part and to grow and to be a part of this whole machine as much as I could. But I also knew that I also felt like I was having to make up for maybe my my downfalls. So I would overdo anything I needed to.

35:14Davina McCall:The trauma that you've suffered with is the kind of thing that will put us into fight or flight constantly, right? Yeah. Your constantly parasympathetic nervous system is like, I want to run. And I'm a flighter. Yeah. And all of a sudden this was like, no, actually I have to fight for this. Yes. And that was new for me. Yes. And so now I was sitting in it and dealing with it and meditating on it and breathing through it and choosing better foods. and it was like, maybe I can actually find some self-love for myself. Maybe I am valuable enough to find some self-love. And I think in that moment, as much as I was crushed, I had to find my way through.

35:54And when Andrea Lieberman gave me that mohawk for Don't Shut and put me in skulls and biker boots, it was all of a sudden like another level of what it meant to own my space. It was a form of feminist anarchy that meant that when I'm singing, and don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me. It was never about anybody else. It was solely about, can I, maybe I, can I be hot? Can I like own what hotness is to me in my own version? And that, that became my whole identity within the dolls. I was fighting for a new version of what being a woman could look like and what it could feel like. Wow.

36:33Davina McCall:I feel like that's a bit of a mic drop moment. That's amazing. Yeah. It was like repositioning everything about being. This is why the dolls mean so much to me. I get it. Yeah. I get it. Yeah. And how frustrating was it when everybody just was banging on about clothes? Because it was your life, right? It was my life. It was changing your life. It was helping you heal trauma, heal yourself from the inside out. Like literally everything to you. And then people are like, oh, well, just look at what they're wearing. and the way that they're moving. Strippers. What was that like? All the buzzwords.

37:12It was so hard, especially coming from the dance background that I come from. You know, dance is the driver for me. The Pussycat Dolls was built on the dance community. And now I look back and it was like, I get how misguided these headlines, how easy these headlines were. Well, it's lazy. It's lazy. Always trying to pick women against women and call us strippers and call us all of these things. None of where it comes from or what it meant ever mattered to anybody. but because they put that out there then it just sways public opinion to be like well they're just strippers or they're just that but I think if anything it made me dive back into my journaling I did a lot of blogging I had a blog called beautiful movement so I was reaching out to people that felt like me early doors early doors yeah I didn't own my name at the time when I was trying to do the blog site so I was like well what can I do to swerve that and started this whole movement with beautiful movements.

38:06Davina McCall:What do you mean you didn't own your name at the time? When I knew that sort of the tough bits of the Pussycat Dolls was unavoidable, I had to start sort of planning, well, what is beyond this? It was always meant to sort of be a stepping stone for what was to come next. And so writing has always been a huge part of me. Journaling, God, I've been journaling since I was 17 years old, putting all these experiences in it. I had to share it with somebody so I'd share it with myself. I mean journaling is an amazing gift for healing as well. Massively I would say circling back to that I think journaling and art therapy just painting for the sake of painting that those were two things that were huge for me just get off.

38:48Davina McCall:You're such a creative aren't you? It's amazing. Yeah. Everything about you you need that release. I need it, I need it. Yeah, it's my lifeline, yeah. This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. I am desperate to get to Greece. Can you blame me? I'm in Greek salad, ocean swims, maybe a donkey or two. Michael and I want to take the whole blended family on holiday this summer. And when I told my team, they all started laughing because Sally, one of the brilliant people I work with, is also desperately keen to go to Greece. Get this, she's going to host her home in London on Airbnb while she's off holidaying and staying at an Airbnb in Greece.

39:29Davina McCall:How's that for strategic? So Sally's hosted before and she said to me that it is just a really totally easy way of earning some extra money on the side. Especially when her home's just sitting empty when she's on holiday. So all she has to do is make her place available for the dates that suit her and off they go. The money that they make from hosting gets put into a pot for their next trip. So have you ever thought about hosting on Airbnb? Why not give it a go? Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much it's worth at airbnb.co.uk slash host. So when you were talking about the Pussycat Dolls, that you saw that it was going to be a bit troublesome at times.

40:12It was going to be troublesome to Vina.

40:14Davina McCall:And that you might need to think of a life beyond that. What was it like when it got difficult? It was like the headlines were saying one thing, the business was saying another, and all of it was telling me that I was replaceable and worthless. And that was hard because it meant so much. It was so different. My experience of it was so different. But there was no outlet to, you were before social media, there was no outlet to be able to control that narrative or have a say or be able to formulate it in a different way or share my experiences. So I needed an outlet. How frustrating was that? The most frustrating.

40:52The most frustrating, for sure. And to think, you know, you have these feelings. You know it's for good and it's for the betterment of wanting to stand up for your sisters and stand up for what this means. But there is no place to put it. I had to create a place. And luckily, Will.i.am was doing a social media site called Dip Dive for creatives so I dove right in and started doing it. I tip-doved. Straight into Beautiful Movements.

41:20Davina McCall:I remember Beautiful Movements. Do you? Yes. Yeah, you're telling me about that, yeah. I've still got the most amazing community of people around the world that a lot of them were struggling to come out to their parents and felt worthless or were dealing with self-harm and felt worthless and I certainly was never trying to be the one to make the change in their lives But what I saw was by owning my own story helped change them anyway. And they still come to all my DJ gigs and it still feels like such a family. It's incredible. What I thought was quite shocking about what you said earlier was about not feeling safe in the band.

41:55Davina McCall:Like, you know, it had been your everything. It had been, it had literally rescued you, saved you. Yeah. And then suddenly that's home and you don't feel safe anymore. you're replaceable oh that's the worst feeling in the world i'd grown from such a low and got to such a place where i felt like i'd overcome so much to then end up in a low again yeah it's like but my dreams have come true how is it that the dream that was supposed to get me to this beautiful place has its downfall too to take you back to what you've been running from and so then through beautiful movements I was starting to build a little bit of self-worth again what I um I was trying to find the another word for pride and I found the word hubris earlier and um what I love about you is your lack of hubris like you it's not that you are a proud person you're a proud woman a dancer but it's you're not too proud to I'm sorry for using this term but to begin again like at anything yeah you are very happy to start at the bottom yeah of somewhere and go so you you were world famous yeah you were instantly recognizable across the world people screaming don't you think you're a person like me doing slut drops everywhere you know um and um i was just looking to see if there's somewhere i could do a slut drop around here but do you know my my husband's um cousin is an editor and he was doing some program and he had to edit something about a slut drop we didn't know what it was so he googled it and was it you it was me i don't even know if we're allowed to say the word slapped off anymore like if we're gonna get Rename it.

43:51Davina McCall:Yeah, let's rename it. Rename it. Why should we rename it? Let's do that now. Hot drop. Hot drop. I love that. Hot drop. I'm going to do a hot drop. I love that. That's much nicer. Yes, it is. Yeah, because we're hot. Exactly, and we're dropping. We're not the other thing. Exactly. Oh, my God, we've come up with a thing. It's already happening. So, you know, you were talking about finding a way out and kind of deciding that you knew there was going to be a time when it was all going to have to end. Yeah. But I was just talking about you being world famous and how humbling that is going back when you've been like that.

44:34Davina McCall:What expectations did you think people have on you? Was that a weight for you or did you just think, no, I'm just going to graft. I've got to find another way of making money. I'm going to go and do something else. and sorry also did you make money out of the pussycat dolls or was it one of those cases where it's like a manager makes all the money and the record company and you don't because you sold 54 million records right yeah that is mental that is mental yeah um we were the first 360 deal ever done in the music business what does that mean what does that mean so as every napster was coming out streaming was coming out so labels were looking for a way to sort of save their asses and the dolls was the first time that they became a partnership so anything that we made was shared usually the label takes in in just the album sales whereas they're taking and touring and merchandise and branding deals and all of that on top of that it was also a joint venture between the Pussycat Dolls and the label and then we were cast mates in an agreement with the label So, yeah, the levels in which I didn't see that amount of money is definitely present.

45:44But I, again, your dream and ambition sometimes mean so much more than money. Yes. But to what extent?

45:51Davina McCall:Yes. And that's what it kind of came down to. I mean, that's quite frustrating to look back at. Yeah. Maybe. Yes and no, because I knew it at the time, even though I was young and naive, I came to an agreement of when I signed that contract, I knew what I was getting myself into and I needed to be mindful of that throughout. And I think that's why when things started to go a bit messy, I had to save my ass. I had to look for a way to just protect my future and see what that looked like for me. And when it finally, when it all kind of came to an end and my mental health and physical health wasn't going to sustain what was being asked of me, that's when I had to put my ego aside, the identity of being a pop star and being known.

46:36This is what I mean. It was a moment. It's a big deal, right?

46:39Davina McCall:It's a big deal. You're a pop star. Not just a pop star, you are world famous. Yeah. It comes with an expectation. And you've got to let that go. You have to let it go. Oh. You have to let it go. Hard. So hard. The hardest. And you want to keep showing up for the fans in the way that they want to see you. But it's unsustainable. And social media had just started, so a lot of wanting to connect was fan sites. and all I was seeing is just images of me being a doll and being this version of me that they'd fallen in love with. And I crumbled it, sort of took a sledgehammer to it because I had to let go of my ego and that identity.

47:16And I just unfollowed everything to my own detriment. I hurt a lot of people and I feel so bad about that. I didn't realize how much a follow felt to certain people at that time.

47:26Davina McCall:Oh, I see. Right. But people were saying that I was dead to them and how dare I and all of this. So that just then piled on top of everything I was feeling. But I had to let go of my ego, and that was the only way for me to do it is to stop living in a bubble of a representation that had been built of me that I had to set a standard for every time I woke up. Yeah. And then that meant I went back to sort of sitting in my peace and was like, well, what's the one thing that's always driven me? It's dance. So I came to London and I went and started teaching some dance classes, teaching heels classes.

48:02And that's when I finally found Got2Dance and found my new home and my new family again.

48:09Davina McCall:Did it just blow everybody's mind when they walked in? Yeah, it did. You were there, they'd be like... I did. Yeah, I did, absolutely. And I think, you know, the leg tilt was a thing. When I did when I grew up and came up with my leg tilt, that was like the sign. Just explain. It's the thing where you go... The leg is over. But you don't just go halfway up with the leg. She goes up with the... We're going to put a clip of it in. Molly, get the clip in. The leg comes up and then it doesn't just go up. She goes further. I'm going to show that to Michael. I'm going to go, that's what you're aiming for.

48:47Davina McCall:That's a new thing. Forget the box splits. Get your flexion stretch around. Do more. It's going to literally blow his mind. he's going to let go of all trauma hips wide open but I mean that was that was a like and for me in that moment that was a little bit of a clap back it was being in like you know in the pussycat dolls and you know I'm a dancer singer dancer will always be first in my soul and I think the control over the group was to control perception of being single women and being pop stars and being a certain thing and controlling who is where I'm doing what. And I always wanted to wave the flag for dance, but didn't feel like I had an outlet for that.

49:31I wasn't sort of allowed to do that. So quietly doing that leg tilt, let all the dance community know, it's like, I got you. And so I think then coming to the UK, it was like, and teaching that class and seeing the looks on people's faces to think that I would give back all these experiences that I've had and allow them a chance to feel like a pussycat doll and heels and dance and be free and get their legs up and open those hips. It felt like, okay, purpose, man, purpose work, giving back to people that need it, to the next generation, to those that just need to feel self-confident and self-aware and feel like there's purpose through movement and expression and just being fine and being themselves.

50:13That was like, okay, this is where it's at I mean it's back to basics it's back to base there's so much yes it's it's and this is

50:23Davina McCall:this is your safety yeah like you have created your own place of safety yeah well done thanks oh I really mean it thank you you've lived a big complicated difficult life but you're a huge part of that, Davina, because when I got on Got to Dance, you opened your arms to me and gave me a space to feel safe. And, you know, being on the panel with Ashley and Adam and Astin, like, it gave me a place to put all the stuff that I had worked so hard. And I felt like any 30 seconds I had to speak, I had to plant a seed in that dancer to help them reach for their potential as artists, athletes, and people.

51:09I had a purpose to make it different, to do something, to have an outlet, to have a voice for good. And Got2Dance gave me that.

51:18Davina McCall:I hope you don't mind, but I want to just go back to talk to you about your parents because when you left home, you kind of left home. There was no going back. There was no going back. Yeah. It's interesting, other people's reactions to stepping back from your own parents are quite a lot to handle. Yes. So how have other people handled you taking a step back from your parents? How has it been for you and where are you at now with them? I think family-wise, especially amongst my brother and sister, there is such an understanding. And we didn't talk a lot for the longest time because we're all dealing with our own sort of traumas and things.

52:03But where that's left us now is a real beautiful sort of, we allow space for each other and our own stuff and allow for each other to be able to still be a sounding board for anything that might come up. Right. So you're close to your siblings. Yeah. Yeah. That's so great.

52:23Davina McCall:Yeah. What I love about having a sibling is that siblings are really the only people who know exactly. You are. Nobody. Yeah. Nobody understands. That's Karen. She knows exactly who I am. Like no one will ever know because no one's ever experienced what you have, but your siblings. Absolutely. Very important. Absolutely. You know, my siblings have been through their own stuff, especially my brother. You know, he lost his father at a really young age and he's been through his own battles. And I think he needs to know that I love him and being able to be that part of his life. What's his name? Stephen.

53:02Stephen we love you she loves you and he shows up for me like nobody else and I just so nice I'm so grateful for it but touching on what you said it's been a really challenging part is not having that family background and I think when you cut ties you're judged for it thinking that you must have done something wrong yeah and I find that really difficult yeah it's how do you rise above that you can't explain that way and even doing it was not too long ago I was doing dancing on ice and um I could see you know those that are surrounded by family they feel like a safe person to love and support and if you don't have that it does give off an energy that people don't know where to place they don't fully trust you they don't feel you know if parents can love and you're showing a respect and that for them, then, oh, they must be a good person.

54:00It's hard to be like, I think I'm a, I know I'm a good person, but I can't, I can't prove it. If you need other people to prove it for me, I don't have that.

54:10Davina McCall:Your kids can. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I am, I've never heard it talked about like that before. That's really interesting. Yeah. that that's why it's kind of shocking that people kind of assume that it must be something to do with you you must definitely must have done something wrong yeah and we can never get away from that it's isolating it is yeah um quickly want to talk about max yes um because you married a brit i did well done well done well done that's that happened you are literally nauseatingly attractive couple um he's such a lovely guy max yeah you just celebrated 12 years we did congratulations marriage crazy how was it yeah it was it was it's a i mean i've never done anything for 12 years that's your most successful relationship ever it is and um yeah gosh to think all those years ago close show five you walked me down the runway and soon enough we We were falling in love and moving to the UK and starting a whole new life, a whole new chapter, a whole new beginning.

55:19Three kids. Three kids later. It's just, it's my biggest success. It's everything I live for. It changes who you are. I never felt so grounded and so happy. Sometimes you get messed, like you get mixed up in the world and the whirlwind of work and school runs and trying to make sure you get everything and you never quite hit the mark of getting everything done. or if I sit, I often do, I'm like, I wouldn't change anything. I am so happy. I have everything I've ever dreamed of or wanted or wished for. And that's a thing in its own right.

55:53Davina McCall:Well, everything is different. Everything is different. Yeah. And when you've been a flighter for a long time and you finally have to sit in your little Surrey beautiful bubble, there's a lot of work to be done in that as well. And 12 years later, I feel like I've done a lot of work to be in my own two shoes, in my own space and feel like, you know, I'm ready to fight for this now. And also just to breathe, just go, you know, it's like almost your shoulders because you're like this. And suddenly you can kind of go. Oh, wow. OK, this feels nice, right? Yeah. This feels amazing. There's a couple of things I want to ask you.

56:31Davina McCall:These are just daft questions. But firstly, I was thinking about a lyric here We were talking about this before the show started And I just need to know here

56:55Davina McCall:You did say boobies, I'm sorry It's groupies, it's groupies It's boobies So we do this, it's confusing You do this? What am I supposed to think? No. But honestly, it's... It's groupies. It's boobies. It's groupies. I reckon you said boobies, and then the record label was like, you can't say that. Okay, it sounds like groupies. Let's change it to that. It's groupies. Yeah, whatever. I certainly wanted boobies, I tell you. What's it like? because I know you guys are kind of planning something. Can you just give us a bit of an insight into what is going on? Because this is very, very exciting. Oh, my gosh.

57:40Well, it's been a while, six years since the last time we were together.

57:45Davina McCall:So that was 2019? Yeah. And that was, wait, let's just quickly just go over that because that was difficult. You guys did reform. You'd had a baby, a C-section. You've literally been sewn together. Jumping off stage. Jumping off stage like madness. But it was a hard time for you guys. It was. It didn't go as you hoped. Oh, my gosh. It was COVID, man. All the girls, we'd done all the promo. We'd been here, Australia. Everything was going really well. And it was the first day of our three weeks of rehearsal. The girls had flown over from L.A., literally had to turn around and fly back because it was the first day of lockdown.

58:23so all of lockdown I was teaching pussycat dolls routines thinking well tour is going to come back and uh it didn't and I found out sort of just as I was going on dancing on ice one of our first shows and was just devastated like like I said the dolls mean so much to me and it has such a purpose in my life and like I was ready to finally live that out sort of need a bit of closure for it to come to its own potential. And can I just say something?

58:50Davina McCall:We needed that. You know what I mean? It's like we were robbed. Yeah. COVID-19 was terrible for many reasons and that was one of them. Yes. And this post that you did on your Insta was just so brilliant. It was like, what did you say in it again? It was like something like, are you ready? Hang on. Are you ready? Yeah, something like that. God, I loved it. Are you ready? I was like, yes, I'm ready. Are you ready? Are you ready? Yes. I was born ready. So tell me. So it's looking like, you know, I think as women, it's important to come back together and make this all happen again and just go for it.

59:37and I think this time around you know a lot of the things that really meant so much for me and the dolls you know wanting to have a purpose and shine a light and own our space and allow for the audience to feel that way too we are ready to entertain so can I just ask you at coming back

59:55Davina McCall:as a mum yeah you know a wife different different energy but the same energy yeah how important is it for you to fly the flag for other women at that stage of their lives going like anything is possible it's so important it's like the most important thing in a way because not only am i flying the flag for women i'm flying it for mums and i'm flying it for my own kids and my own dance academy we do all these competitions everybody's always dancing to pussycat dolls we've got our own performance icons to pussycat doll music my kids want to put on when i grow up roll down the windows and blare it on the school run.

1:00:31My oldest doesn't want me to go into the school unless I look like a pussycat doll because she needs her friends to know that her mom's a pussycat doll. So just to be able to circle back at this stage in life, it means a lot.

1:00:42Davina McCall:I am a pussycat doll. I am a pussycat doll. This is what I am. This is what I am. It's a huge part of me as well. And I want to tap back into that energy of what it meant to be and be able to fly that flag again. Probably one last time. Never say that. Yeah, it's like there's always time and space to come back again and again and again. And I think this idea of still being able to be young, vibrant and sexy at any age is really important. It is. I am going to dress inappropriately for the rest of my life. I'm gonna I'm gonna make it appropriate yes to dress like this forever because I think nobody gets to tell us no when we're um past our sell by date no you know we decide that we decide that and putting that latex back on and tapping back into those big heels and hair and makeup I was like yeah this is fun I like her this is like this it's a part of your character that you don't always get to tap into but the pussycat dolls gives you the ability to do that and again doing all these dance competitions the kids the dance community understands what the dolls is about you know the the costumes the hair the makeup the music being able to move a certain way the kids get it so to be able to wave that flag and say not only do you get it now but you can get it for the rest of your life but also to see you going back doing it again the graft the work the energy that you have to put into it.

1:02:24Davina McCall:I mean, for your kids, your kids are dancing, right? They're dancing, yes. And they're doing great, right? They're doing brilliantly. Aren't they? Oh, my gosh. I can't even tell you, seeing them on stage and what it does for them, it's just insane. It's like looking like little me up there. Did I inadvertently give Willow her name? You named our child. Yeah. You named our child. Can you just explain how that happened? So I was doing the jump, learning winter sports in Austria. Yeah. We've done a lot together, haven't we? always checking back in and on the flight back max and i were giggling because we're getting married in two weeks and you came to chat to us and we were so embarrassed because you were like well what are you guys talking about like what future kids names and you said you know i've got a brilliant name for you i remember looking at him like what is it what is it and you said willow and we walked away and both of us looked at each other like that is the perfect name if it's a daughter and in out came our willow and you know i was when we see you on telly you're doing your thing we always say willow that's the that's the woman that named you there's tavina so i was with her this morning getting ready for the school run i said i'm gonna be with tavina she's like the one that named me she says well i've got a name for her oh yeah are you ready for Yes.

1:03:42Diva McCall.

1:03:46Davina McCall:Oh, my God. Diva McCall. Diva McCall. It is so good. Isn't it just? Two snaps out. A twist and a kiss. Mwah. Yes. And then our second child, based on the tree thing, we went with Maple. Oh. In fact, all the roots keep each other alive. We're like, as sisters, we hope you always keep each other alive. And Sana? And Senna. So my father-in-law was a race car driver, F1 Ford, I think it was. Oh, wow. And he looked a lot like Etten Senna back in the day with curly hair and the whole thing. And so my husband, always being a big fan of Etten Senna, was like, if we have a boy, that boy's been named Senna.

1:04:30So he's named Senna.

1:04:31Davina McCall:Wow. God, that's amazing. And they must be super excited about you guys coming back. They are beyond excited. not only it's not even about seeing us on stage it's the possibility that they can get on the stage that's their dream they're like can you get us on stage it's like i have to yeah you got you got to you got to so what does the lineup look like who is everybody back so it's looking like me nicole and ashley oh three of us oh my god the three of us amazing yeah and uh the choreography going well? We'll be jumping right into that very soon. Yeah, great. So the plans are in place. Okay. I might have to teach me a move.

1:05:11Always. I'm always here to teach you a move.

1:05:13Davina McCall:Okay, great, great. And also you're going to be touring. Yeah. And new music coming out. Yes. Can I just, am I allowed to tell people? Yeah, go on. I've heard it. Yeah. It's a banger! I mean, honestly, like, what did I have to do last night? Yeah. I actually had to text Kimberley. Yeah, you did. Go, it's a You know, because I was like, you know, when somebody messages you and they go, I've written something and you go, please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Because I love you so much. And I was like, please, please let me love it. Oh, my God. It did not disappoint. I'm excited for it.

1:05:51Davina McCall:I was like, oh, it's like grindy, bit sexy. It is. It's all those things. Totally like amazing. Get your girls together and throw down. And your boys. And your boys. Get your boys together. All the boys. um kimberly i i just want to say i am so proud of you thank you you are such a shining light of um how to pick yourself up dust yourself off start again pick yourself up dust yourself off you are a grafter but you also bring us all so much joy thank you thank you so much Kimberly, Wyatt everybody in a woman's spot hang on look how low she goes the hot drop the hot drop wait I'm going to move this mic out of the way watch this everybody Give me a Kimberly, like, stand up from there.

1:06:57Davina McCall:OK. Yes! Queen! Look at her! Look at her! Can you come on in and accept me for a surprise for you? Surprised? Four surprises. What? What? The Butter Cat!

1:07:24Thank you.