Latest news with #AshleyRoberts
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
As Ashley Roberts speaks out on her struggles during her girl group years, where are the other Pussycat Dolls?
The Pussycat Dolls was the ultimate girl group, and it took the pop world by storm in the early 2000s but in 2010 the six members called it a day - and plans for a reunion tour in 2020 were ruined by the pandemic. One original member Ashley Roberts opened up about her struggles during her time in the group and explained how ill she got due to stress, and health professionals feared she had a brain aneurysm after a severe bout of sickness and headaches. Since quitting the band, Ashley's moved away from musical performances to become a successful showbiz correspondent - but what happened to Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt, Melody Thornton, Jessica Sutta, and Carmit Bachar? SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Ashley Roberts Since leaving the band, Ashley appeared on several reality TV shows, including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, The Jump, and Strictly Come Dancing. In 2019, she became the showbiz correspondent for Heart's Breakfast radio show. Since 2022, she's been a presenter on Heart 00s, a spin-off from the radio network. Ashley's in a relationship with boyfriend George Rollinson, 25, and they've been dating since November 2023. Last year, the 43-year-old revealed she was in a 'happy place': 'It's really nice to be in a relationship that's kind and thoughtful and supportive and we have fun'. Despite being part of the iconic girl band, behind the scenes Ashely paid the price for trying to keep up with the high-energy performances and intense schedule. She revealed on Paul Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk details of the terrifying health scare she experienced during her time in the band, and her decades-long battle with insomnia. She said: 'When my body started shutting down, I thought, OK, it is time to take a pause.' Explaining just how ill she got, Ashley said: 'We were in London doing a gig and I was sick and I was like 'Ok I'm just ill, you know, probably caught something. 'I was vomiting and had extreme headaches and I'm thinking, "This it isn't getting any better and we I need to get on a flight to Germany." 'I ended up going to the hospital and they said, "We think you are having a brain aneurysm. So we need you to chill." 'I was like, "Well, I need to get on a plane." 'Then, as I am walking to the MRI, my knee locks up and it turns out I had viral arthritis, I didn't even know this was a thing. So I couldn't bend my knee. 'My body was just, like, stop. I was having some kind of reaction to a virus that I had caught - but I was, like, the show must go on.' When she left the group, Ashley's health took another knock, believed to have been caused by intense stress. She said: 'There was a literal physical manifestation of stored emotion in my body that has to come somewhere right? 'Unless you have got some sort of release the body is going to try and get it out and I feel like that's what my body was trying to do. 'I had eczema all over my legs, I had a stomach ulcer, I had shingles on my chin. I think stress was at the root from a young age and I was lucky to have performing and dance as an outlet but I think my body had been used to holding stress in.' Nicole Scherzinger Since The Pussycat Dolls disbanded, Nicole's seemed to have had the most successful run, and she's engaged to rugby player Thom Evans. Nicole's proved herself as a global success, and won Dancing With The Stars in the U.S., then joined the judging panel on the UK's X Factor. Her singing career's continued to blossom, and she reached number one in the UK charts with her song Don't Hold Your Breath. More recently, Nicole revealed her eyes were set on a career in Hollywood, after she was awarded her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. After selling 55 million records worldwide with The Pussycat Dolls and her Broadway gong, Nicole's revealed her movie dreams. She told The Sun: 'I would like to do movies and movie musicals. I would like to build my own show, there are roles I would like to create. You never know where your unexpected dream opportunity is going to come from.' Kimberly Wyatt Kimberly said her world 'came crashing down' when the Pussycat Dolls reunion was axed - and it left her broke. She got married to Max Rogers, also 43, in February 2014, and they're parents to three children. The singer and dancer opened up about how her family life was impacted when the much-talked about tour fell through. She told the Mile Fly Club with Laura Hamilton podcast that at that time, she had cleared her schedule to make way for the concerts - but she went into 'panic mode' when it was axed. Kimberly said: 'Three young kids, paying school fees, and all these things - it changed our world. We had to rejig our entire life because of it. 'You end lots of your work to open all this space to go on the road, so when it all comes crashing down it was panic mode.' However, Kimberly's become a popular face on UK TV since her pop star days: she won the BBC's Celebrity MasterChef series in 2015, took part in The Jump, appeared on the E4's All Star Driving School, and competed on ITV's Dancing On Ice in 2022. Kimberly's gone on to become a presenter on Hits Radio, and deejayed at celebrity events across the UK. Melody Thornton When the band needed to bolster its vocal strength and opened auditions for new members in 2003, Melody jumped at the chance. Melody left the group in 2010, and said at the time: 'I got into the group to sing. That was made very clear to me but it became more and more apparent what was going on. 'Roles were being minimized and minimized and then, by the time it got on the show, it was very much like, "Y'all play your part and this is what it is."' Melody, 40, went bagged a cameo in Keri Hilson's video for the track Slow Dance, and she also released her first official single Sweet Vendetta in 2011. She's appeared on several TV shows, including reality series Bank Of Hollywood, and ITV in the UK's Dancing On Ice. Melody also competed on ITV's Popstar To Operastar and Celebrity Island. When the Dolls were set to reunite in 2019, Melody did not join them because the timing 'wasn't right' for her. In 2010, Jessica left the Pussycat Dolls to embark on a solo career. That same year, she released her first single I Wanna Be Bad, but it failed to chart anywhere except in Slovakia - where it peaked at number 65 in the charts. However, Jessica's second single Show Me gained a bit more success and got to number 1 in the U.S. Billboard charts' Hot Dance Club Songs. Jessica married Mikey Marquet in 2019, and they've got a four-year-old son together. She recently opened up about being unable to play with her son or return to the stage for over three years due to her battle with a life-changing vaccine-related injury, which caused her to have debilitating muscle spasms, tremors, and fatigue. Her symptoms came on within days of receiving her second dose of the Moderna Covid vaccine in December 2021. Jessica said: 'I woke up with a muscle spasm in my right rib that just would not get out. It felt like a knife inside was burning. It wrapped around my rib cage and up and down my spine, and it felt like I was on the brink of death.' The spasms, which she's continued to endure, then gave way to tremors in her legs and involuntary head jerks, which since subsided. However, she still felt as though her body's been 'completely hijacked'. To make matters worse, while her fellow Pussycat Dolls bandmates accepted her experience, she was dubbed an anti-vaxxer for speaking out. She said: 'I'm willing to risk my reputation so this doesn't happen to anyone else. 'There are many people in the industry way bigger than me with a bigger outreach with vaccine injuries but they won't speak out. And, for me, I just couldn't hold my tongue.' She added that she did not consider herself anti-vaccine: 'I do believe in the technology in hindsight, right? But I will not blindly trust the medical system ever again after what happened to me. I'm not "anti" anything. I'm just anti being sick.' Carmit Bachar Carmit, 50, was one of Pussycat Dolls' main vocalists, and she was famous before then having previously danced on stage with Beyonce and performed as the Livin' La Vida Loca girl on Ricky Martin's tour in 1999 and 2000. Since quitting the band in 2008, Carmit's focused on her music career. She formed the pop group LadyStation in 2011 and released the single Body In Motion, and ended 2018 with the release of the single It's Time, followed by the track How Far. Carmit also collaborated with Macy Gray in 2010 on her album The Sellout. She's mom to daughter Keala Rose, 13, and Carmit's also a campaigner for cleft-palate charities having suffered with the congenital condition herself as a child.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Where are the Pussycat Dolls now? As Ashley Roberts speaks out on her struggles during her girl group years, a look at the very different lives of her bandmates
They were the ultimate girl group who took the pop world by storm in the early 2000's. But in 2010, the Pussycat Dolls officially disbanded, and plans for a reunion tour in 2020 were ruined by the Covid-19 pandemic. This week, original member Ashley Roberts opened up about her struggles during her time in the iconic girl band. Explaining how ill she got due to stress, the star admitted health professionals feared she had a brain aneurysm after a severe bout of sickness and headaches. Since quitting the band, Ashley has moved away from music and has become a successful showbiz correspondent. Fellow members Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, Carmit Bachar, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt have also embarked on solo careers, from appearing on reality TV shows to winning Tony Awards. Ashley Roberts Since leaving the band, Ashley appeared on several reality TV shows, including I'm a Me Out of Here!, The Jump, and Strictly Come Dancing. In 2019, Ashley became the showbiz correspondent for the national Heart Breakfast radio show. Since 2022, she has been a presenter for Heart 00s, a spin-off from the Heart radio network. Ashley, 43, is now in a relationship with boyfriend George Rollinson, 25, who is an artist and has created elaborate pieces for the likes of celebrity clients Drake and Anthony Joshua. Last year, Ashley gushed to MailOnline that she was in a 'happy place' and said: 'It's really nice to be in a relationship that's kind and thoughtful and supportive and we have fun'. Despite being part of the iconic girl band, behind the scenes Ashely paid the price for trying to keep up with the high energy performances and intense schedule. Speaking candidly on Paul Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk the singer reflected on a terrifying health scare she experienced during her time in the band and her decades long battle with insomnia. She confessed: 'When I my body started shutting down, I thought ok it is time to take a pause.' Explaining how ill she got, the star admitted health professionals feared she had a brain aneurysm after a severe bout of sickness and headaches. 'We were in London doing a gig and I was sick and I was like 'Ok I'm just ill, you know, probably caught something.' 'I was vomiting and had extreme headaches and I'm thinking 'This it isn't getting any better and we I need to get on a flight to Germany .' 'I ended up going to the hospital and they said 'We think you are having a brain aneurysm. So we need you to chill,' and I was like 'Well I need to get on a plane.' 'Then as I am walking to the MRI my knee locks up and turns out I had viral arthritis, I didn't even know this was a thing. So I couldn't bend my knee.' She continued: 'My body was just like stop. I was having some kind of reaction to a virus that I had caught. But I was like the show must go on.' After leaving the group Ashley's health took another knock which she believes to have been caused by intense stress. The star explained: 'There was a literal physical manifestation of stored emotion in my body that has to come somewhere right? 'Unless you have got some sort of release the body is going to try and get it out and I feel like that's what my body was trying to do. 'I had eczema all over my legs, I had a stomach ulcer, I had shingles on my chin. I think stress was at the root from a young age and I was lucky to have performing and dance as an outlet but I think my body had been used to holding stress in.' Nicole Scherzinger There is no denying that Nicole has had the most successful run since the band disbanded, and is now loved-up with her rugby player fiancé Thom Evans. Once upon a time, Nicole 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. But she has proved herself as a global success, scooping victory on Dancing With The Stars in the US, and joining the judging panel on The X Factor UK. Her singing career has continued to blossom, as she reached No.1 in the UK charts for her song Don't Hold Your Breath. More recently, Nicole revealed she has her eyes set on a career in Hollywood after bagging her first Tony Award. She sobbed as she accepted her first ever Broadway honour at the star-studded 78th Annual Tony Awards, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She won the Best Leading Actress in a Musical award, for her performance of fading Hollywood star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, based on the 1950 film noir of the same name by Billy Wilder. And after selling 55million records sold worldwide with The Pussycat Dolls and now clinching her Broadway gong, Nicole has revealed she now wants to tackle movies. Speaking to The Sun, she said: 'I would like to do movies and movie musicals. I would like to build my own show, there are roles I would like to create.' She added: 'You never know where your unexpected dream opportunity is going to come from.' Kimberly Wyatt Kimberly revealed that her world 'came crashing down' when the Pussycat Dolls reunion was axed, leaving her broke. She married English model Max Rogers in February 2014, and the pair have three children together. The American singer and dancer opened up about how the tour falling through impacted her family life. Speaking on the Mile Fly Club with Laura Hamilton, Kimberly admitted she had cleared her schedule to make way for the reunion - but went into 'panic mode' when it was axed. 'Three young kids, paying school fees and all these things - it changed our world,' she said. 'We've had to rejig our entire life because of it.' Kimberly added: 'You end lots of your work to open all this space to go on the road so when it all comes crashing down it was panic mode.' But Kimberly has become a popular face on British TV since her pop star days. She proved she was a culinary whizz and won the BBC's Celebrity MasterChef series in 2015. She also took part in The Jump, before appearing on the E4 show All Star Driving School. Kimberley then competed in Dancing On Ice in 2022. Now, Kimberly is a presenter on Hits Radio and often DJ's at celebrity events across the UK. Melody Thornton When the band were looking to add some vocal strength and auditioned for new members in 2003, Melody jumped at the chance. The 40-year-old left the group in 2010, saying at the time: 'I got into the group to sing. That was made very clear to me. But it became more and more apparent what was going on. 'Roles were being minimised and minimised, and then by the time it got on the show, it was very much like, 'Y'all play your part and this is what it is'.' Melody went on to bag a cameo in Keri Hilson's music video Slow Dance, as well as releasing her first official single Sweet Vendetta in 2011. She has popped up on several TV shows, including American reality series Bank of Hollywood, and ITV's Dancing On Ice. Melody also competed on ITV's Popstar To Operastar, where she lost out to X Factor's Joe McElderry, and Celebrity Island. When the Dolls were set to reunite in 2019, Melody did not join them with founder Robin Antin saying the time 'wasn't right for her. Jessica Sutta In 2010, Jessica left the Pussycat Dolls to embark on her solo career. The same year, she released her first single I Wanna Be Bad, but it failed to chart anywhere but Slovakia, where it peaked at 65. However, Jessica's second single Show Me gained a bit more success reaching number 1 in the US Billboard charts for Hot Dance Club Songs. Jessica married her husband Mikey Marquet in 2019, who she shares a three-year-old son with. She recently opened up about being unable to play with her son M.J., let alone get on stage, for more than three years. And that's because she's been battling a life-changing vaccine-related injury that caused debilitating muscle spasms, tremors and fatigue. Her symptoms came on within days of receiving her second dose of the Moderna vaccine to protect against Covid in December 2021. 'I woke up with a muscle spasm in my right rib that just would not get out,' she told the Daily Mail. 'It felt like a knife inside was burning. It wrapped around my rib cage and up and down my spine, and it felt like I was on the brink of death.' The spasms, which she still endures to this day, then gave way to tremors in her legs and involuntary head jerks that have since subsided. But she still feels as though her body has been 'completely hijacked'. To make matters worse, while her fellow Pussycat Dolls former bandmates have been accepting of her experience, she has now been dubbed an anti-vaxxer for speaking out. 'I'm willing to risk my reputation so this doesn't happen to anyone else,' she said. 'There are many people in the industry way, bigger than me with a bigger outreach, with vaccine injuries. But they won't speak out. And for me, I just couldn't hold my tongue.' She added that she does not consider herself anti-vaccine. 'I do believe in the technology in hindsight, right? But I will not blindly trust the medical system ever again after what happened to me. I'm not "anti" anything. I'm just anti being sick,' she said. Carmit Bachar Carmit was one of the main vocalists and was famous before joining the Pussycat Dolls, having previously danced on stage with Beyoncé and was the Vida Loca girl for Ricky Martin. Since quitting the band in 2008, Carmit, 50, has focused on her music career. She formed LadyStation in 2011 and released a single called Body In Motion, and ended 2018 with the release of a new single It's Time. Carmit also collaborated with Macy Gray in 2010 in her album, The Sellout. The redhead, who is mum to daughter Keala Rose, is a passionate campaigner for cleft-palate charities. She suffered from the condition herself as a child.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Ashley Roberts thinks 'it'd be a shame' if Pussycat Dolls never reunited
Ashley Roberts is still holding out hopes for a Pussycat Dolls reunion. The Don't Cha hitmakers - which also included Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberley Wyatt, Carmit Bachar, Jessica Sutta and Melody Thornton - were set to reunite in 2020 after almost a decade apart, but the COVID-19 pandemic scuppered their plans. She told the We Need To Talk podcast: "We were ready to go, and Ms. Rona [Coronavirus] shut it down. "[And] there's legal stuff that was involved, so I can't actually speak about that. Unfortunately, legal stuff started happening and it wasn't able to get figured out. "But I mean, you never know, like honestly, because I didn't think we'd get back out there the time that we did. So it'd be a shame not to." The AGE-year-old singer and dancer admitted she wishes she'd have been able to take on a greater role in the group, where Nicole was positioned as the frontwoman of sorts. She said: "There was a structure to the group that we knew about. The structure was that Nicole was the lead singer... it was what it was. "Do I wish it was a bit more expansive? Yes. But also I was getting to live out my dreams. I don't want to sit here and bash and speak negatively about it." In November last year, Nicole and Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin "reached a settlement in principle" after a three-year legal battle of the cancelled reunion. The Poison singer was sued by Robin in September 2021 for allegedly refusing to take part in the comeback shows without full creative control and a 75 percent profit share. Her legal team branded the case "meritless", claiming she had simply asked to renegotiate her contract after the delay due to the pandemic. Later that month, Nicole announced the tour had been scrapped entirely, and in August 2022 she filed a cross complaint accusing the choreographer of mismanagement and misappropriating funds. Late last year, the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column reports the pair jointly filed documents in court in Los Angeles on Friday (01.11.24), which stated both 'parties have reached a settlement in principle, subject to the execution of certain written agreements.' The notice didn't disclose the terms of the agreement, but it meant a jury trial that had been scheduled for the following month was cancelled and replaced by a hearing on 28 July, 2025, to officially dismiss the case.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ashley Roberts reveals terrifying health scare that saw her 'body shut down' as she details decades long battle with insomnia in candid podcast
She was part of one of the biggest pop groups in the world and enjoyed worldwide success with the Pussycat Dolls. However behind the scenes Ashely Roberts has paid the price for trying to keep up with the high energy performances and intense schedule. Speaking candidly on Paul Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk the singer, 43, reflected on a terrifying health scare she experienced during her time in the band and her decades long battle with insomnia. She confessed: 'When I my body started shutting down, I thought ok it is time to take a pause.' Explaining how ill she got, the star admitted health professionals feared she had a brain aneurysm after a severe bout of sickness and headaches. 'We were in London doing a gig and I was sick and I was like "Ok I'm just ill, you know, probably caught something." 'I was vomiting and had extreme headaches and I'm thinking "This it isn't getting any better and we I need to get on a flight to Germany." 'I ended up going to the hospital and they said "We think you are having a brain aneurysm. So we need you to chill," and I was like "Well I need to get on a plane." 'Then as I am walking to the MRI my knee locks up and turns out I had viral arthritis, I didn't even know this was a thing. So I couldn't bend my knee.' She continued: 'My body was just like stop. I was having some kind of reaction to a virus that I had caught. But I was like the show must go on.' After leaving the group Ashley's health took another knock which she believes to have been caused by intense stress. The star explained: 'There was a literal physical manifestation of stored emotion in my body that has to come somewhere right? 'Unless you have got some sort of release the body is going to try and get it out and I feel like that's what my body was trying to do. 'I had eczema all over my legs, I had a stomach ulcer, I had shingles on my chin. I think stress was at the root from a young age and I was lucky to have performing and dance as an outlet but I think my body had been used to holding stress in.' Later in the interview Ashley also opened up about her decades long battle with insomnia, as she admitted she began 'chugging' Nyquil (the US equivalent of Night Nurse) at just 14 years old. She began: 'NyQuil was my little bedside friend. I was coping, I didn't know what to do and I was not sleeping. I was like 14. 'Yeah I was putting a lot of pressure on myself for a choreographer that was coming into town. I wanted to show up and be the best I could be and I was so anxious I didn't sleep. 'Then I was so anxious the next night about not sleeping and then that happened for a few nights in a row and I thought I was going out of my mind. 'So I was just chugging that [NyQuil] every few hours to get myself through the night to get some sleep.' She continued: 'It became the norm because I was nervous if I didn't sleep I wouldn't be able to show up as myself and have the brain capacity to operate through school, work and dance. 'I was nervous that my mental health wouldn't be stable, probably counter productive but at the time I just thought "Sleep is important I need to sleep".' Ashley later began taking Xanax as she added: 'I started taking Xanax which was very helpful for many decades of my life. 'I had sleep issues since I was 14 and I didn't really know how to handle it and I just knew that this would knock me out for a few hours so I could get sleep.' Yet now Ashley explained that through routine she has managed to find stability as she credited her Heart Breakfast Show for helping her find balance. 'The structure, the stability and the routine has been a game changer and I have been able to teach my body to have that kind of rhythm. 'But that has taken time and I still don't have the perfect balance.'
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ashley Roberts shares grisly health battle on Loose Women that saw her battle facial shingles and stomach ulcers - but fans all have the same complaint about ITV panel
has told of her health battle on Loose Women which saw her fight facial shingles and stomach ulcers - but fans felt compelled to weigh in with the same complaint. The Heart Radio presenter and former Pussycat Dolls singer, 43, appeared on the ITV panel show on Thursday to promote her new book Breathwork. It sees her share breathing techniques that helped her with restlessness, anxiety, terrible sleep and a career change - as well as her father's tragic death by suicide. She was interviewed on the programme by panellists Charlene White, 45, Linda Robson, 67, Kelly Brook, 45, and Nadia Sawalha, 60. Ashley shared with them the dramatic health battles she was facing before starting breathwork exercises turned her life around. But meanwhile, viewers at home were all annoyed by the same thing - they were distracted from her honest confessions by the panellists talking over her. One user said on X: 'Can Charlene just let Ashley get a word in? She is the guest.' Another commented on the social media platform: 'Why don't you all shut up and let Ashley Roberts speak?' It came as during the interview, Ashley got very vulnerable about a particularly difficult period in her life and work. She had entered into a new phase of her career, after her gruelling time in the iconic noughties girl band The Pussycat Dolls, known for hits like Don't Cha and Buttons. And her father Pat Roberts, the former drummer for American folk rock group The Mamas & The Papas, tragically took his own life aged 37 in 2018. 'So, at one point, I had eczema across my legs, shingles across my face and an ulcer [in her stomach]', she said. Nadia exclaimed, 'That's so old-fashioned!', while Ashley's Heart Radio colleague Kelly said sympathetically, 'I can't imagine you being that stressed out!' Ashley continued: 'And I went to this acupuncturist and she goes, "If you don't scream, your body is going to scream for you". Viewers at home were all annoyed by the same thing - they were distracted from her honest confessions by the panellists talking over her 'You know, it's going to find a way to get out... 'And all of a sudden, it catches up to you and you're like, "Oh, wait a second, maybe I should have taken a pause and done something like breathwork", or whatever it is, go for a walk, have a dance.' The TV personality told of how challenging her pop career had been: 'It was a lot, it was also a different time. 'We have so many different conversations that we're having now, like even today, just sitting and talking about this. 'But I mean, back then, it was just like, you got on the horse, saddle up and let's go, we're going for the ride.' Her childhood experience with competitive dancing had given her a certain attitude to her own mental health. 'I sort of was like, "Well, the show must go on!"', she said. 'But yeah, it did take its toll over time. It was a hard schedule to keep up with, that's for sure.' The presenter has also waged a long-running battle against sleeplessness and racing thoughts, with a 'mind that is always going a bit crazy'. 'So, the people that know me best know that I've struggled with sleep for most of my life', she explained. 'Since I was 14, I had a really bad episode and so, [breathwork] is something, yes, that can help you.' Breathwork is a practice that uses controlled breathing techniques to reduce stress, improve mental clarity and promote physical and emotional healing. Ashley discovered it on a digital detox retreat, in this period when she was generally 'feeling a bit lost'. She recalled thinking to herself: '"Woah, this is the most relaxed and connected to myself that I've felt in so long".' Amid her grisly health struggles, the radio host has found breathing techniques 'transformative and so precious'. 'And that's why I want to share it because the human experience is tricky, right? None of us get out unscathed', she said. 'And sometimes, it's tough and it smacks you around a little bit. 'And this is the most personal I've been, within this book, because I wanted to share my story and how that has affected my nervous system, my over-active mind.' It comes after Ashley opened up to the Mail's The Life of Bryony Podcast about other aspects of the devastating toll her time in the music industry had on her. She told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon how being forced to give up dancing - and discovering breathwork - pulled her back from the brink of a mental breakdown. The performer was only 22 years old when she joined The Pussycat Dolls in 2003, eventually moving to London from Los Angeles after their split in 2010. Ashley's new book transforms the hard-won lessons from her difficult past into practical techniques for improving mental and physical health. 'My body was literally shutting down', Ashley told the podcast. 'The Dolls were in London doing a show. I was sat in my hotel room and all of a sudden, I had this extreme headache. The performer (pictured in 2008) was only 22 years old when she joined The Pussycat Dolls in 2003, eventually moving to London from Los Angeles after their split in 2010 'The pain was unreal. I also felt really sick. We were supposed to do a show in Germany the next day, so I called my manager - who told me to go to the hospital. 'The doctors thought I'd had a brain aneurysm. When I went to have an MRI, my knee locked up and that was viral arthritis entering my body. 'My mentality at the time was all about making it to the next show – but that was the moment I remember thinking, "What's going on here? I need to take a second because this isn't cool".' Ashley revealed how the cutthroat music industry had instilled a toxic work ethic that was destroying her health. 'The early 2000s was a whole different era honey', the performer told Bryony. 'No one ever spoke about mental health or the importance of checking in. 'I am grateful there has been a shift – people cancelling shows now when they need to look after themselves. 'I felt I was weak. It was instilled in us from a young age that we were interchangeable. After making the move to London permanent, the Heart Radio presenter told Bryony how feeling 'spiritually lost' in her new home led her to discover breathwork 'There was a pressure of like, if you don't show up, who knows what might happen? 'I grew up in the dance world and there is still an attitude of – if you break your toe, you need to keep going. Your mind is programmed to think: the show must go on. 'In the end, I had to take some time off. It was a viral infection with extreme side effects – what was probably a manifestation of being so rundown.' Following The Pussycat Dolls' split in 2010, Ashley began building her career in the UK, finishing as runner-up on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2012. After making the move to London permanent, the Heart Radio presenter told Bryony how feeling 'spiritually lost' in her new home led her to discover breathwork - her second great love after music. 'After the Dolls, I stopped dancing completely', Ashley said. 'Being in a pop group for so long, I just shut all that down and wanted to go in a different direction.' It was then she found breathwork: 'It created this sense of calm that I can't explain. 'I always felt this chaos internally and suddenly, for a few moments, it felt like I wasn't battling it anymore. 'I didn't quite realise how then how great a tool it would be in helping me process life. 'When my dad died, that ability to reflect gave me the motivation to stay strong – and I want to share that.'
