EXCLUSIVE Ashley Roberts On The Pussycat Dolls "The Schedule Was Insane"

We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson

FlightStory

Leisure, Relationships, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 95 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ashley Roberts shares the real story behind The Pussycat Dolls, revealing the emotional and physical toll of being in one of the world’s biggest girl groups. She opens up about the intense pressure of the music industry, her ongoing battle with anxiety, and the personal breaking point that made her walk away from dance. For the first time, Ashley reflects on the gruelling schedules, behind-the-scenes struggles, and the moment she knew she had to put her wellbeing first. She reveals: ◽️ The real reason The Pussycat Dolls broke up ◽️ How anxiety and addiction crept in behind the scenes ◽️ The moment she knew she couldn’t keep performing ◽️ Why Strictly Come Dancing was a tribute to her dad ◽️ How moving to the UK helped her rebuild her identity ◽️ Why breathwork became a daily lifeline ◽️ How she navigated the stigma around her age-gap & why she’s never been happier Ashley Roberts, We Need To Talk. This episode touches on suicide so please watch with care. We’ve included links to support charities below: Samaritans: https://g2ul0.app.link/1CRhatR7mPb CALM: https://g2ul0.app.link/YvmzhM17mPb MIND: https://g2ul0.app.link/d72yzu7jJOb Follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/needtotalk https://www.tiktok.com/@weneedtotalkpod Support Ashley here: Instagram: https://g2ul0.app.link/lAUL4dUU9Ub TikTok: https://g2ul0.app.link/qPnK1UWU9Ub Breathwork Book: https://g2ul0.app.link/XeONyN0U9Ub (00:00) Intro (02:04) Ashley's Love of Dancing (03:25) Ashley's Experience of Moving to LA at 19 (07:07) How Ashley Joined the Pussycat Dolls (09:58) How the Pussycat Dolls Became a Global Phenomenon (16:21) Paul's Favourite Pussycat Dolls Song (17:57) The 'Structure' of the Pussycat Dolls (19:28) Why the Pussycat Dolls Reunion Never Materialised (20:46) How Much Money the Pussycat Dolls Made According to Paul (22:52) The Day-to-Day of Touring with the Pussycat Dolls and Its Effect on Ashley (26:15) Paul Has a Pussycat Dolls-Related Surprise for Ashley (28:39) The Aftermath of Leaving the Pussycat Dolls (31:10) Falling Out of Love with Dancing Post-Pussycat Dolls (33:53) Ashley's Experience of 'I'm a Celeb' (36:51) Going on Strictly and Ashley's Changing Relationship with Dance (42:28) Tinder Ad (43:33) Ashley's Dad and His Mental Health Struggles (50:53) Ashley's Advice for Anyone Who's Experienced a Loss from Suicide (53:44) Ashley's History of Anxiety and Insomnia (57:53) How Did Ashley Discover Breathwork? (1:06:58) Ashley's New Book About Breathwork (1:08:06) A Message from Ashley's Mum (1:09:54) Ashley's Relationship History (1:17:03) Ashley's Current Relationship and Her Feelings Around Age-Gap Romances (1:23:18) Most Memorable Conversation (1:31:03) Paul's Takeaways Tinder: https://tinder.com/en-GB ♥️Get The Love Journal now: https://bit.ly/lovejournal-mp SyncID - MB01JMPCXOVMDJP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Pussycat Dolls. What was the structure to the group?
0:03.1	The structure was that Nicole was the lead singer.
0:07.3	And that was the structure.
0:09.9	Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
0:13.4	I saved $1,000 cash.
0:15.3	And I drove to California.
0:16.7	And I was so excited for what was ahead.
0:18.5	It was so unknown.
0:19.4	Neo, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga. That supported us back in the day. We were in ahead. It was so unknown. Neo Rihanna and Lady God.
0:21.3	That supported us back in the day.
0:23.7	We were in Egypt, performing from the pyramids.
0:25.7	And then I'm doing a kiss concert in Los Angeles.
0:28.3	My calculation is that he made $250 million.
0:31.8	Do you feel like you were fairly compensated?
0:34.9	When you work hard and then somebody else is capitalizing off of that, that's where it gets like a bit tricky. Unfortunately, legal stuff started happening and it wasn't able to get figured out. What's the real reason of the group breaking up? A piece of my soul died when I stopped dancing. I didn't want to dance and become a job. But I got sort of whispers that we might want you to be a part of Strictly. My dad was like,
0:55.2	I will fly to London to see your dance again. I wanted to do that for him because he was his own
1:00.5	worst enemy. He just couldn't take it anymore. My father passed away the same year that
1:06.6	strictly happened. You've seen so many incredible groups come back together and perform. What about the pussycat dolls? It should be a shame not to. All right, before we begin, I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Why? Because we can't believe how far we've come with this podcast.
1:30.7	But in particular, we've come this far because of you. Your support means everything,
1:35.4	whether it's a comment, whether it's a DM, whether I get stopped in the street, which I do and I appreciate.
1:40.6	I just want to say how much we appreciate. And if you have not yet subscribed,
1:46.1	I want you to click the subscribe button or hit that bell icon. What it allows us to do is
	...

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