Most explosive girlband feuds ever from show shade to fistfights and homelessness as Pussycat Dolls reunion turns toxic
GIRLBANDS have long been as famous for their feuds as their roster of hits or attention-grabbing outfits.
And as the Pussycat Dolls capture the headlines again after announcing their latest reunion, Nicole Scherzinger and co were no stranger to beef within the band.
Nicole, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt announced last week they were bringing the iconic band back as a trio, but notably absent were the other original members Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton and Carmit Bachar.
The Sun confirmed that both Carmit and Jessica were not invited back by the trio, who believed they would be better off as a threesome and Melody was said to have not taken part as per her own request.
Carmit has been open about feeling “betrayed” by the reunion and sparked a bitter feud between the former bandmates.
Let’s take a look back at some other epic girlband squabbles…
Atomic Kitten
The band that brought us songs such as Whole Again and The Tide Is High had a fair few rows, even ones that got physical.
In 2022 Kerry Katona revealed Heidi Range quit Atomic Kitten after she had a fight with bandmate Liz McClarnon, and she walked out of the band after “someone got slapped”.
Heidi, who went on to join the Sugababes, was picked for the original line-up in the 1990s after Kerry held auditions.
“Heidi and Liz didn’t get on,” she told The Jay Hutton Show. “I think one of them slapped the other one. And then she went solo.”
Kerry herself quit Atomic Kitten in 2001 after a series of rows with Liz.
“I remember some of the fights we had in Atomic Kitten back in the day. Once, Liz punched me from behind after we had a little row. I was furious and got my own back,” she said.
Danity Kane
Danity Kane was active sporadically from 2005 to 2020 and had been signed to P Diddy‘s [Sean Combs] record label after forming on MTV’s Making the Band.
The group was made up of Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, and D. Woods.
In 2008, Combs kicked Aubrey and D.Woods out of the group, which they claimed was retaliation for refusing his alleged sexual advances.
The group reformed as a trio in 2013 with Aubrey, Shannon and Dawn. They disbanded the following year after a physical altercation when Dawn allegedly punched Aubrey in the head during a studio session.
Dawn filed a lawsuit against Combs in 2024 for alleged sexual assault and inhumane treatment. She also testified against Combs in his New York criminal trial last year claiming she had witnessed him abusing his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura on multiple occasions.
Also last year, Aubrey revealed for the first time in the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning that she was allegedly drugged and molested by Combs.
Sugababes
The superstar girl group became infamous for its never-ending lineup changes.
Eight years after Heidi joined the Sugababes in 2001, backstage rows led to Keisha Buchanan, the only original member left in the line-up, getting the boot.
Heidi revealed the atmosphere between her, Keisha and Amelle Berrabah had been bad for months and the band “couldn’t work together anymore”.
She was replaced by former Eurovision hopeful Jade Ewen, then 21.
Keisha hit out at her former bandmates saying she found it hard to harmonise with them after the departure of original members Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghey, and that the Sugababes had become about “being sexy” rather than creative.
The original trio reformed the group in 2023 and delivered an electric set on the legends stage at Glastonbury that year.
Girls Aloud
After releasing several smash hits, Girls Aloud took their first break back in 2009 and reformed in 2012 only to split again a year later.
Things then went sour when Nadine Coyle publicly distanced herself from the break-up when she wrote on Twitter at the time, “You should know by now I had no part in any of this split business. I couldn’t stop them. I had the best time and want to keep going.”
Cheryl quickly slammed her claims, saying Nadine was “full of s***” and had asked for a break in 2009 which led to the band’s demise.
The two women became close again following the tragic death of member Sarah Harding, who lost her fight against breast cancer in 2021.
They reunited in 2024 in memory of Sarah for a 30-show tour, which was the biggest UK arena tour of that year and earned them £850,000 each.
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are probably one of the most famous girl groups of all time, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Wannabe pop stars.
When Geri left the band in the lurch, at the height of their success in 1998, it was the beginning of the end.
The remaining four members called it quits two years later – and put the blame squarely on the shoulders of their former bandmate.
In a 2014 interview, Mel B claimed Geri gave them no warning before ditching them.
“When Geri left the group, it was so bad,” Mel said. “She left on my birthday and didn’t tell anybody. She just didn’t show up.”
As well as spats with Geri, Mel said the rest of the Spice Girls “fought like cats and dogs” and then made up.
TLC
The trio of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was the biggest-selling girlband of the Nineties, now second only to the Spice Girls in the UK.
The history of the band, whose biggest hits were Waterfalls, Creep, No Scrubs and Unpretty, includes bankruptcy, lawsuits, illness and death.
A three-piece group until the tragic death of Left Eye in 2002 in a car crash in Honduras, T-Boz and Chilli returned to touring after 15 years in 2015 as a duo and remain a group to this day.
But Chilli was never meant to be in the group originally but replaced founding member, Crystal Jones, who was booted from the group over contractual issues and their desire to replace her.
En Vogue
The R&B group shot to stardom in 1989 but made headlines last year when one of the former members revealed that they had been homeless for the past three years.
Dawn Robinson was one of the founding members of the group – and wasn’t present on tour with En Vogue when they reunited last year and played at Glastonbury.
She stayed with the band until En Vogue’s 1997 disbandment and in 2025 revealed that 28 years on she was homeless and living in a car.
But there was plenty of other drama for the band after they broke up.
In 2012, group members Cindy Herron and Terry Ellis sued former members Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson for the En Vogue name.
Cindy and Terry also sued Maxine and Dawn for $1 million in damages after the group split, claiming that the two women continued to tour under the name En Vogue.
They won a judgement allowing only Cindy and Terry to use the band name, but failed to receive the damages they wanted to obtain.
After decades of legal woes, both sides agreed to settle out of court.
Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony rose to fame on the US version of The X Factor in 2012 and were on track to be one of the biggest girl groups of all time.
But things went off the rails when old social media posts by band member Camila Cabello surfaced and featured racist slurs and derogatory memes.
Even though she apologised for her posts, Normani, the only black member of the group, later addressed the racism she experienced from Camila’s fans, and how she didn’t feel supported by her bandmates.
In 2016, Fifth Harmony announced in a statement that Camila had informed them through her “representatives” that she’d left the group, which Camila disputed.
But the dispute led to a dramatic performance at the 2017 VMAs when Fifth Harmony hit the stage without Camila.
A fifth silhouette appeared beside them, but was then violently yanked away as a clear message they were moving on without her.
The beef continued after Fifth Harmony’s dissolution when in July 2021, when Camila chose the day that Normani released her hotly awaited single, Wild Side, to announce her own new track.