Nine years ago, a furious Andrew Lloyd Webber declared that Nicole Scherzinger would never ‘get her Tony Award’.
At the time, the former Pussycat Doll had just pulled out of his Broadway production of Cats at the last minute to take a seven-figure salary to return as a judge on ITV‘s X Factor.
But at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City last night, it appeared Scherzinger had finally proven the theatre mogul wrong, sheddingtears of joyas she gave her Tony’s acceptance speech.
The 46-year-old singer has defied the odds to become the babe of Broadway, winning the Best Leading Actress in a Musical Award for her performance as Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Sunset Boulevard.
Just a few years ago, it would have seemed impossible – or at the very least rather unlikely – for the former Pussycat Doll to win such a gong, widely renowned as the most prestigious prize in American theatre.
Following a ‘flop’ attempt at a solo singing career after the pop group disbanded in 2010, her stage career had also looked doomed following a vicious spat with Lord Lloyd Webber.
Webber had raged: ‘I’m furious because I really believe she’s the most fantastically talented girl and I went out on a limb… but never mind, there’ll be another girl on Broadway and Nicole will not get her Tony Award.’
But following raving reviews in his new Sunset Boulevard show, Scherzinger has become Lloyd Webber’s shining diamond on Broadway – and not only has he eaten his words, but he’s become her biggest cheerleader.
Last night, Nicole Scherzinger was the Pussycat who got the cream after scooping the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Pictured with her fiancé, Thom Evans
In 2016, Andrew Lloyd Webber said Scherzinger ‘would not’ get her Tony Award, after she ditched his musical Cats to return as a judge on the X Factor. Pictured in 2014
For her performance as Norma, a faded Hollywood starlet who refuses to accept her star has waned, Critics have raved:’Nicole dazzles’, ‘Scherzinger absolutely bloody smashes,’ and, simply, ‘Perfection!’
Once upon a time, Scherzinger was best known for hanging off the arm of Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, from whom she split for good in 2015, following an on-off relationship over several years.
She was born in Hawaii as Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger to father, Alfonso Valiente, who is of Filipino descent, and mother Rosemary, who is of Hawaiian, Ukrainian and Russian ancestry.
Raised in Kentucky from the age of six, she began acting at the age of 14, studying musical theatre and dropping out of college.
Her first minor forays into the singing world came while touring with American rock band Days Of The New, before joining Eden’s Crush, a girl group born from an American reality series.
With her multi-racial background, people assumed she was of Pakistani descent. She confided to those who worked with her that her skin colour hasn’t always made it easy for her in show business. However, they say, it made her ‘unbelievably determined.’
In 2005, she joined the Pussycat Dolls, a burlesque troupe who found success with hits such as Don’t Cha, When I Grow Up and Jai Ho!
Alongside the other members of the group, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton and Kimberly Wyatt, the Dolls sold 55 million records worldwide.
As a member of The Pussycat Dolls, Scherzinger sold 55 million records. Pictured in 2005, with bandmatesMelody Thornton, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, and Kimberly Wyatt
However her attempt at a solo music career has been widely regarded as a ‘flop’, with several songs failing to chart. Pictured 2013
Nicole and Formula One star Lewis Hamilton (R) started dating in 2007 after meeting in Munich (seen in 2009)
In 2015, the long-distance couple called it quits, with reports claiming the pair had differing aspirations (pictured in 2008)
Nicole laterrevealed that her ‘strong religious beliefs’ made her uncomfortable with the Pussycat Dolls’ sexy image when she first joined the band in 2003.
The PCD lead singer told The Guardianshe ‘just wanted to make [her] mother proud’ when she joined the burlesque-turned-pop group in 2003, aged 25.
But when the other auditionees turned up in their underwear it was ‘a massive hump’ the devout Christian and granddaughter of a Catholic bishop had to try to get over.
‘If you look at my outfits, I was in trousers most of the time,’ she said. She explained that, despite the band’s sexually charged image, she liked to try to be ‘classy’ and leave ‘a little bit for the imagination’ during her early years in the chart-topping group.
Nicole herself said that she sang ’95 per cent’ of the vocals on Pussycat Dolls and said that on one occasion, she even recorded the backing vocals.
Her fellow bandmates heard their album for the first time when it was played to them in the studio after Nicole had recorded it.
While this may not have been a problem for most of them, who were hired as dancers, it was difficult for Melody Thornton, the only other singer.
‘I lost so much confidence and felt really worthless,’ she said of not being allowed to sing,’ the told The Mirror.
After a brief stint in pop group Eden’s Crush, Nicole catapulted to fame as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls (seen in 2007)
Nicole Scherzinger (front centre) first rose to fame as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls alongside Carmit Bachar (front right), Ashley Roberts (front left), Jessica Sutta (back centre), Melody Thornton (middle left), and Kimberly Wyatt (middle right).
The band, pictured in 2008 after winningBest Dancing In A Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, quickly became a worldwide success
Their success was to last no longer than four years, as the group went on hiatus and disbanded in 2010, following the completion of their world tour and amid rumours of a rift.
In 2019, they tried to reform the band and released the single React, but their reunion tour was later cancelled amid legal battles between Nicole and the group’s founder Robin Antin.
She later admitted that there were ‘so many tough moments’ between the girls, but insisted any animosity was in the past.
As the lead vocalist of the group, it had always seemed likely that Scherzinger would go on to become the stand-out star.
As one friend told the Mail’s Katie Hind in 2013: ‘Nicole was the only one of the Pussycat Dolls who had a chance at becoming a solo act. She looked the part and could sing but she also put the work in and would leave the small ego she had at the door.
‘She was like Cheryl Tweedy of Girls Aloud, the stand-out one. She was looking at signing a solo deal and was inundated with offers as the pop world needed a new matriarch and she was feisty and talented.’
And her solo career, it seemed, was off to a strong start after catching the eye of Simon Cowell, who recruited her to become a judge on the X Factor.
Between 2010 and 2013, she joined Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh and Tulisa – and Sharon Osbourne in 2013 – to mentor the contestants, her most successful of which included Jahmene Douglas and James Arthur.
Nicole caught the eye of Simon Cowell, who recruited her to become a judge on the X Factor. Pictured with Gary Barlow, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh
However, her solo music career never fully took off. Pictured performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in 2011
Scherzinger is pictured in the music video for Your Love, the lead single of her 2014 album Big Fat Lie
In July 2022, in a video released to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of One Direction, it was revealed that it had been Nicole’s idea to put Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik into a group together – and not Simon Cowell, as previously thought.
But despite the huge boost given to her career by the X Factor, a solo pop career was not to be for Scherzinger.
Her first studio album Killer Love, was released in 2011 after being pushed back multiple times but fared well in the UK charts.
The lead single from her second album in 2014, Your Love, debuted at number six in the UK singles chart and second, Run, in the top thirty.
But her third track, On the Rocks, received negative reviews and the forth, Bang, failing to chart.
In 2014, her dance-pop record Big Fat Lie also failed to chart – and remains her last solo release.
It was then she decided to turn her attention away from the studio, and towards the stage.
However, her dreams to becoming a lead in musicals got off to a rocky start.
In 2016, Nicole made headlines after Sir Andrew Llyod Webber branded her ‘crazy’ after she pulled out of the Broadway production of Cats at the last minute to take a seven-figure salary to return as a judge on ITV’s X Factor.
In 2016, Andrew Lloyd Webber slammed Nicole for turning down a role in Cats last minute (seen in 2022)
Instead of taking the theatre job, Nicole decided to take a judge role on the X Factor (seen in 2013)
The composer told the Economistthat Nicole phoned him up a week before the cast was due to start rehearsals for Cats to say she had decided to ditch the play to join X Factor.
‘She’s crazy, but the American producers took a view of, ‘Oh fine, we’ll get someone else.’ She’s actually not that well known in America. She’s better known here,’ he said.
‘I’m furious because I really believe she’s the most fantastically brilliant girl and I went out on a limb to get her at the Palladium and now I look like an absolute t*** with them all.’
‘Nevermind, there will be another girl on Broadway and Nicole will not get her Tony Award,’ concluded Andrew.
Nicole hit back at Andrew’s remarks and told the MailOnline: ‘I had every intention of doing Cats on Broadway but the contract was never finalized.
‘I am incredibly blessed to be given so many amazing opportunities, including Cats, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make it work this time around.
‘I adore and respect Andrew, I’m so grateful for our friendship and can’t wait for the opportunity to create more magic together.’
Nicole has enjoyed a relationship with rugby star Thom Evans since 2019 (seen in 2021 in Venice)
Last year, Nicole announced she is engaged to her boyfriend Thom Evans, after he popped the question during a trip to Portugal
Just two years later, in 2018, Nicole proved her row with Andrew was a distant memory, as she revealed it would be her ‘dream’ to make a musical with the renowned composer.
According to The Sun, the singer believes she has ‘several musicals in her’ and at the time, wanted to turn her hand to playwright with the help of the Phantom of the Opera creator.
The singer told the paper: ‘It would be a dream to create something original with Andrew.’
In 2021, she returned to the world of musical theatre once more as Grace Farrell in NBC’s Annie Live!
Just months later, she was in talks with a reconciled Lloyd Webber to discuss her taking on the role of Norma Desmond on the West End, which has since moved to Broadway.
Announcing her part in the show in May2023, Nicole said: ‘I can’t wait to think and play outside the box with brilliant, cutting-edge director Jamie Lloyd.
‘And to have the honour of working with the legend himself, Andrew Lloyd Webber, to bring this timeless masterpiece to life.’
The pair are now said to be ‘very very close’ again – and he’s sure to be prouder than anyone after last night’s award ceremony – at which he was spotted in the audience.
Not only was Lloyd Webber proven wrong, but he’s now Scherzinger’s biggest cheerleader. Pictured together at the Tonys last night
The actress was seen shedding tears as she finally accepted the award – widely considered the most prestigious in American theatre
In her acceptance speech last night, as well as giving a shoutout to her fiancé Thom, Nicole was quick to name the composer.
She paid tribute to the crew of the musical, thanking Lloyd Webber and gushing: ‘It has been such an honor to be able to create with you the past 15 years.’
Sobbing as she took to the stage to accept the gong, Scherzinger gave a special shout out to Thom, whom she met when he appeared as a contestant of the celebrity X Factor in 2019, thanking him for ‘believing in me when I forget to believe in myself.’
During her acceptance speech, the actress broke down in tears as she confessed: ‘Growing up I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong, and I have come home at last.’
She added: ‘I’m so honored to be recognized alongside these exceptional warrior women in this category. I want to thank you all so much for making this little Hawaiian/ Ukrainian/ Filipino girl’s dream come true. So proud to represent.’
As well as Thom, Nicole also thanked her family, including her mother, stating she ‘had me at 18 and gave everything up for me.’
And voicing her gratitude and appreciation for producer Jamie Lloyd, she added: ‘Jamie, you saw in me what no one else did. You have given us all new ways to dream and you have changed my life forever.’
Nicole wrapped up her emotional speech with an inspiring message, saying: ‘If there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong, or your time hasn’t come, don’t give up.
‘Just keep on giving and giving, because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever. This is a testament that love always wins. Thank you so much. God Bess you.’
