If you’re hoping for a Pussycat Dolls reunion, chances are you’ll be waiting for a while.
“I mean, you know, it’s complicated, that’s what I will say,” OG member Carmit Bachar exclusively told Us Weekly at the Rookie Kids Fashion Show in Los Angeles last month. “You know, I wish for the best. I hope for the best and I’m so grateful that we accomplished so much in the group in a short amount of time.”
Bachar went on to point out that “next year will be 20 years” since The Pussycat Dolls’ 2005 breakout hit song “Don’t You” hit the airwaves and catapulted the group into super-stardom.
“But you know, we conquered a lot, and we could have learned a lot more,” she continued. “But listen, we’ll always have an incredible catalog, and it doesn’t get old.”
Bachar didn’t go into further detail as to what would make an on-stage reunion “complicated,” but her Pussycat Dolls pride certainly mirrors that of her former group member, Nicole Scherzinger. In a July 2024 interview with Us, the lead singer said that her time in the group was a “whirlwind” because “so much happened so fast for the Dolls.”
“I’m really proud of when we came back together,” she said at the time. “The pandemic happened and we weren’t able to tour, but we came back together for our song ‘React’ and performed on The Factor, and I was proud of that. We hadn’t been together for, like, 10 years, and then we got together for a week and just put that up on stage.”
In the mid-to-late 2000s, The Pussycat Dolls dominated the airwaves with a slew of hit songs, including “Don’t Cha,” “Buttons,” “Stickwitu,” and “When I Grow Up.” But after members of the girl group started to leave to pursue their own careers, The Pussycat Dolls disbanded in 2010.
“A couple of the girls have left the group because they want to do their own projects and stuff,” Scherzinger explained to Ryan Seacreast in an interview shortly after the group split. “It’s up to them what they want to do, and I just think, whatever makes them happy, we’ve been at it for a strong six years. It’s not easy. I love it, and I’m grateful for it. But I think that it’s just time for people to do their own thing.”
Some members blamed the group’s former management for the split — and the fact that only Scherzinger was allegedly allowed to talk to the press or media — while others said they were ultimately happy to see The Pussycat Dolls disband.
“I hate to say that, but I was [glad],” former member Melody Thornton said in a June 2016 interview with E! Australia’s The Hype, explaining that she was upset she was treated as more of a dancer than a singer.
“For me, I’m primarily a vocalist and a lot of people don’t know that and so I got into the group and they said ‘you’re gonna be dancing’ and I was like, ‘I can’t dance!’” she added. “And it was a really difficult time for me, so when it was over I was like ‘great, next chapter.’”
Even though The Pussycat Dolls probably won’t be sharing a stage anytime soon, Bachar is still influenced by the group. While attending the Rookie Fashion Show, the singer told Us that her fashion sense was certainly impacted by her time as a Doll.
“My personal style, I think I’m always a little bit of edgy, funky, sexy, mixed together,” she explained. “A lot of people, obviously, people know me from The Pussycat Dolls. So I’ve always blended all my styles. And I like things that are timeless, not necessarily super trendy, and I like to mix it up. I mix and match things all the time. I bring old vintage pieces in with new stuff. A little bit of everything.”
The singer’s collaborative style is additionally influenced by her daughter, Keala Rose, who was also in attendance at the September event. (Bachar shares Keala with husband Kevin Whitaker.)
“The funny part is that everything old is new again, right? We go to a store and she’s like, ‘You don’t know my style.’ And I’m like, ‘Try me,’” Bachar said. “I’ve literally pulled things out of old boxes that fit her, that fit me, that is back in style.”
With reporting by Mariel Turner
