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The Pussycat Dolls found fame as a six-piece band but Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts, Kimberly Wyatt have announced they are reuniting as a trio.
The news came as a shock to former band members Carmit Bachar, 51, and Jessica Sutta, 43 – who were not asked to return despite being due to take part in the cancelled 2020 reunion.
Now it has been reported that the real reason Carmit and Jessica were snubbed from the upcoming reunion tour was because close friends Nicole, 47, Ashley, 44, and Kimberly, 44, want to ‘protect their peace’.
Speaking to The Sun, a source said that the trio feel Carmit and Jessica are no longer aligned with their world and they want the tour to remain drama-free.
‘They felt like moving forward as a trio was the best way of making sure the tour goes smoothly,’ they said.
‘They are all on the same page about the reunion and feel like Jessica and Carmit are in a different world from them these days.’
The source went on to say that both Carmit and Jessica had indicated in recent years that they had no desire to reunite with the band so their upset at the announcement came as a surprise.
‘It feels like they’re doing anything for attention,’ the source said.
The publication also reported the group’s founder Robin Antin is involved with the new reunion tour but has less of a role than the planned 2020 tour.
The 2020 reunion tour, which would have featured all five of Jessica, Carmit, Nicole, Ashley and Kimberly, was cancelled after a legal dispute between Robin and Nicole.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Jessica, Carmit, Nicole, Ashley and Kimberly for comment.
Melody Thornton, 41, was also a member of the original Pussycat Dolls line-up who will not return for the tour – however she was not due to reunite for the 2020 shows either.
Carmit and Jessica took to social media on Thursday to share their fury as they revealed they were both blindsided by the reunion and were not asked to take part.
Earlier on Thursday a bitter feud erupted between members of The Pussycat Dolls just hours after they announced their first global tour in 17 years.
Taking to Instagram, Carmit reposted a video of the girl group’s former producer Eddie Serrano criticising the three-piece reunion.
He said: ‘I’m here to talk about one thing… I have been very close friends to a lot of Pussycat Dolls, Carmit you know you’re my sister.
‘I’m very upset about this Pussycat Doll ‘reunion’… I do have a problem when I see my home girls, who were very instrumental in building the brand, not a part of this ‘reunion’.
‘We need to see them as a unit, not just as three girls that’s not the Pussycat Dolls, that’s just the ‘Pussy’ without the ‘Dolls.”
Alongside the clip, the singer wrote: ‘Luv you.’
Meanwhile, Jessica revealed she only found out about the reunion at the same time as the rest of the world.
Asked by a fan if she was going to meet up with the rest of the Pussycat Dolls, Jessica replied: ‘No, I’m not.’
‘They have been planning it for a year and blatantly didn’t ask Carmit and I. We are finding it all out the same time you are.’
Jessica then shared several cryptic posts to her Instagram Stories which appeared to hit out at her bandmates.
One read: ‘Pray that god keeps removing who’s not meant for you and revealing what you need to see. Even if it hurts right now, he’s making room for what’s truly yours.’
Another said: ‘You can go to church every Sunday, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t see how you treat others and what you do.’
And a third read: ‘Those who hurt you will see how God heals you – publicly, beautifully, and beyond what they expected.’
Former member Melody Thornton has so far remained silent about the reunion.
The Pussycat Dolls first broke up in 2010, with Kimberly saying at the time she was ‘unable to grow creatively’ in the group.
Nicole went on to launch a solo career and the group reunited as a five-piece without Melody Thornton in 2019, releasing the single React. They intended to go on a reunion tour in 2020 but it was cancelled due to Covid.
Speculation of a comeback first started when the trio were spotted enjoying a night out together at swanky restaurant Gaia in London’s Mayfair last month.
Tickets for the upcoming highly-anticipated tour in the UK and Europe will be available from Wednesday, March 18th for pre-sale and general sale begins on Friday, March 20.
Pussycat Dolls