Known best as the sexy lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls and as one of the judges on
"The Masked Singer," Nicole Scherzinger isn't necessarily what you might expect her to be.
Here's what you never knew about her.
While she's rich and famous now, things weren't always so easy for Nicole Scherzinger.
Scherzinger's family didn't have much money while she was growing up, and she also had
to deal with bullying.
She explained to Anokhi Life that, as someone with darker skin, she felt like she didn't
fit in, as she grew up in a predominantly white town.
She said,
"You want to grow up and have the blue eyes, blonde hair and fair skin to fit in."
At least Scherzinger had her talent to anchor her.
She described herself as, quote, "a really shy, awkward, lanky kid growing up."
She told Larry King,
"I'm really awkward, and where there are a lot of humans quite, like, kind of more introverted
and insecure."
But her dreams of being a singer kept her going — especially after she sang in a school
production in middle school, cementing her future.
She said,
"I felt so comfortable and at home, and the rest is history."
Scherzinger comes from a multicultural background.
Born Nicole Valiente in 1978, her mother, Rosemary, is of Hawaiian and Russian ancestry,
while her father, Alfonso Valiente, is Filipino.
She was raised by her stepfather, Gary Scherzinger, who is of German heritage, making for quite
the diverse upbringing.
Scherzinger is incredibly proud of her roots.
Even though she grew up in Kentucky, she still views her home state of Hawaii as home, especially
since she has family there.
She told Modern Luxury Hawaii,
"Being born there and knowing that I am part Hawaiian, makes me feel connected to the 'aina'
and the spirit of Hawai'i."
She also connected to her Hawaiian roots by voicing the mother of the titular character
in the Disney animated film "Moana."
She told the blog Whisky + Sunshine that she needed to be in the film because she wanted
to do her part to represent her Polynesian heritage.
She joked,
"Plus I didn't wanna go back home and [...] hear, 'How come you're not in Moana?'"
Scherzinger has also gotten in touch with her Filipino roots by singing a Tagalog song
for a Filipino compilation album.
While she doesn't speak Tagalog, she told the press that she was eager for the opportunity
to explore her heritage through the song, saying,
"Music speaks all languages [...] Whether or not you speak Tagalog, when you listen
to the song, it moves you and your soul."
Nicole Scherzinger grew up in a conservative, Catholic household.
While she would go on to become a sex symbol, it wasn't a transition that came easily to
her.
She explained to PR.com that when she arrived at her audition for The Pussycat Dolls, she
didn't exactly exude the sensual vibes the group is known for, wearing a decidedly tame
outfit that she described as, quote, "not cute."
She explained to The Guardian that when she walked into her audition, quote, "they were
rolling their eyes" at her and didn't even let her all the way into the audition room.
She nevertheless managed to impress them with her powerhouse vocals, and she landed the
job.
Her family, however, wasn't thrilled with her decision to join the group, with Scherzinger
telling PR.com that her mother especially disliked the name, wishing they were simply
called "The Dolls."
Her family eventually came around, though, with Scherzinger saying,
"[T]hey support The Pussycat Dolls because they believe in us."
While The Pussycat Dolls have attracted a lot of attention for their risque performances
and their members' often provocative clothing, there's a lot more to the group than sex appeal.
Nicole Scherzinger wasn't initially comfortable with the revealing outfits, telling Marie
Claire that she cried upon seeing the first outfit she was expected to wear as a member
of the group, but she eventually got used to the look.
"I'm a woman, and it's part of owning what you are."
The Pussycat Dolls helped Scherzinger become more empowered, and it's a power she thinks
we can all tap into.
As she told Wylde,
"Everyone always has a Pussycat Doll inside of them.
When I think of that I think of a woman who is growing into herself, knowing who she is,
owning who she is, loving and accepting who she is."
Scherzinger continued, saying that being a Pussycat Doll means a person channeling, quote,
"that lioness part in her, to go after what she wants," something we've all definitely
seen her do!
Nicole Scherzinger is widely recognized as a stunning woman.
In 2013, a poll conducted by The Good Surgeon Guide found that Scherzinger was the famous
figure that British women most wanted to look like.
So you may be surprised to learn that inside she was struggling with her body image and
living with an eating disorder.
In an interview with The Guardian, she revealed that she would spend hours a day at the gym
and severely control her eating habits.
"I was living in a very dark world."
In her early 30s, Scherzinger was told that bulimia was harming her singing voice, which
led to her seeking help.
It wasn't an easy journey for the singer, but she eventually recovered.
She told Cosmopolitan that her experience made her want to share her struggles and offer
hope for others, letting them know that healing is possible
"It is such a horrible paralyzing disease and it was such a dark time for me.
[...] But you can beat it — do not give up because you're so special and you're meant
for such great things."
Nicole Scherzinger channels some serious girl power and has inspired many young women over
the years.
That being said, she doesn't consider herself a feminist.
It's not that she doesn't agree with the goals of feminism, though.
While she's on board with equality, she doesn't see the need to give that belief a particular
label.
She told The Guardian,
"I'm just for women.
I'm also for the human race in general."
Still, Scherzinger is quick to speak out about women's issues.
She's been vocal about the sexism directed toward The Pussycat Dolls, telling The Times
that a lot of the media coverage about the group over the years was misogynistic.
"It's sad that, with whatever people are writing out there, they pit women against each other.
They don't do that with guy groups."
Some people enter the performing arts hoping to become famous, but a life of movie premieres
and star-studded parties was never Nicole Scherzinger's goal.
Instead, she prefers a more relaxed lifestyle.
While she's happy to get glammed up for performances, she told The Guardian that getting gussied
up for a red carpet event is another story and that she'd rather just stay home eating
comfort food.
In an interview with PR.com, she said that, while she does love traveling, she calls herself
a "homebody."
When it comes to touring, she said that being able to broaden her horizons is great, but
that she finds herself longing for something more familiar.
"I miss my family and my loved ones, and I miss my bed."
With her large vocal range and her ability to tackle everything from pop music to show
tunes, it's no surprise that Nicole Scherzinger has a vast array of influences.
The singer told PR.com that Whitney Houston was her idol as a kid, but that her tastes
branched out with age to jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
These days, though, her number one is, of course, Beyoncé.
She told Capital FM,
"I'm probably Beyonce's biggest fan.
I love Bey, I think she's Queen Bey for sure, nobody can touch her."
Music isn't the only thing that has inspired Scherzinger over the years.
One of the biggest factors in her becoming the artist she is today is a scholarship she
received in high school called the Wittenberg Scholarship.
She told Fund for the Arts,
"This scholarship helped me get a college education, pay for housing, and it inspired
me."
Unless you've followed Nicole Scherzinger's career exceptionally closely, you may not
know that she's expanded her talents to the stage.
In 2014, she played Grizabella in the musical "Cats," earning an Olivier nomination for
her performance.
She almost played the role on Broadway as well, but she dropped out of the production
shortly before she was set to make her debut, choosing, instead, to return to her role as
a judge on "The X Factor."
The show's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, was disappointed, telling The Economist Radio,
"I'm furious because I really believe she's the most fantastically talented girl."
"I just hope that what happens is that she decides now that she'll really go for a real
real Broadway theatre career."
Scherzinger wanted to star in the 2019 film adaptation of the hit musical but wasn't even
given an audition.
She told The Guardian,
"That really upset me, I won't lie about that.
I was devastated."
While she didn't get the film role, she did land a role in another musical, as Grace in
NBC's "Annie Live," telling Entertainment Weekly,
"It's such an empowering role and beautiful, graceful shoes to fill, every pun intended."
Nicole Scherzinger is a success story, but her achievements didn't come without a lot
of hard work.
The singer considers herself a perfectionist, and her Type A personality has been evident
from a young age.
In an interview with The Guardian, she talked about a story her mother likes to tell about
her childhood.
It seems that, as a little girl, Scherzinger was so driven by a need to get things just
right that she even wanted her coloring to be perfect.
She said that, according to her mom,
"If I colored slightly outside of the lines, I would rip the page and throw it across the
room."
A good artist needs to know when to kill their darlings, as the saying goes, and Scherzinger
has taken the adage to heart, telling Digital Spy that she's, quote, "scrapped five whole
albums" because they didn't meet her exacting standards.
While we're disappointed that there's undoubtedly incredible music out there from her that we
may never hear, Scherzinger said shelving songs is typical in the industry.
"I'm very protective of my babies [...] I think a lot of artists are like that."
Nicole Scherzinger has quite the social media following, with more than 5 million followers
on both Twitter and Instagram and 2.3 million on TikTok.
While some celebs carefully curate each social media account and post frequently to grow
their followings, Scherzinger doesn't take it so seriously, telling Wylde that she doesn't
actually tweet very often.
What she does take seriously, though, is that many of her fans see her, quote, "as some
kind of a role model," so she's careful about what she posts.
She joked,
"I wish I were more interesting and wild on Twitter!"
There's another reason she's careful about what she posts, though.
She told the Daily Record, quote, "Social media gives me the heebie-frickin'-jeebies,"
explaining that posting causes her anxiety and that she often second-guesses herself
before uploading an image of herself.
She explained that, as she's so much in the public eye, her posts are scrutinized by the
public and the press alike.
"I want to share so much but I get afraid because of the way people pick it apart and
ridicule you."
Front and center
If you've ever watched The Pussycat Dolls perform, you've likely noticed that Nicole
Scherzinger is typically front and center.
Scherzinger revealed on VH1's "Behind the Music" that the reason for this is, quote,
"because I was singing."
And, because of Scherzinger's amazing voice, it's estimated that she, quote, "probably
did 95%" of the Dolls' vocals on their first album.
Producer Ron Fair backed this up, saying,
"Melody sang a bit here and there, but the records were Nicole, with the exception of
an occasional ad-lib."
Sadly, Scherzinger's natural star power led to some tension in the group.
While she told "Behind the Music" that the other Pussycat Dolls are like sisters to her,
she admitted to The Telegraph that there was some jealousy from her bandmates.
"It's just that natural dynamic where they want to be at the front."
After some reflection, it seems like at least one of her bandmates changed her opinion of
Scherzinger always taking the lead.
Years after the group disbanded, they got together in 2020 for their first single in
a decade, "React."
"We wanted to make sure it was divine timing and that it worked out with everyone's schedules
and where we are in our lives right now.
So, and we were like, we're coming back on our time and on our terms."
Scherzinger's bandmate, Kimberly Wyatt, praised her pipes, telling The U.K. Sun,
"Ultimately, The Pussycat Dolls has a lead singer and that is Nicole."
Respect!
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available.
Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at
1-800-931-2237.
You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).