Sophie Monk breaks her silence on why pop girl group Bardot really broke up – after former bandmate Belinda Chapple blamed her for the girl group’s implosion
Sophie Monk has finally spoken out about the collapse of early 2000s pop sensation Bardot after more than two decades of silence.
The Love Island host, 43, has taken the blame for the girl group’s split after former bandmate Belinda Chapple released her memoir The Girl in the Band.
In the book, the creative director, 48, says Bardot split because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career – a claim she has vehemently denied.
“What happened was there were five of us and Katie (Underwood) said, ‘I’d like to leave the band,’” Sophie said. News.com.au on Saturday.
“When she said that, I said, ‘I’d like to leave too.’ And (David) said, “No, you can’t leave because then we’ll only have three and we’ll have to stay another year.”
Sophie Monk, 43, (pictured) has finally spoken out about the collapse of early 1990s pop sensation Bardot after more than two decades of silence
Sophie went on to say that she reluctantly agreed to stay with Bardot for another year and make another album, while Katie left in 2001 to pursue other offers.
The television host also addressed the band’s breakup a year later and the rumors that she was the cause of it in her pursuit of a solo career.
Sophie denied she was the only reason, saying: ‘I’m done (Bardot) and was looking for a job. I didn’t know at all that they were going to ask me for a solo album.’
The Love Island host recently took the blame for the girl group’s split after former bandmate Belinda Chapple, 48, (pictured) released her memoir The Girl in the Band
However, former bandmate Belinda painted a very different picture of the incident in her memoirs.
Belinda said she, Sophie, Katie, Sally Polihronas and Tiffani Wood all bonded well in the beginning with ‘a lot of hassle’.
But things quickly changed among the group of friends when they rose to fame on Popstars as ‘Australia’s answer to the Spice Girls’.
In the book, the creative director says Bardot (pictured) split because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career – a claim she has vehemently denied.
Belinda said Sophie became ‘distant’ and started to ‘separate’ from the other women as she organized her own photo shoots and ‘got the best outfits in film clips’.
Meanwhile, the band’s former manager David claimed Bardot had split following an ‘explosive’ backstage outburst before their Mardi Gras performance in 2002.
The manager told News.com.au in 2020 that things were becoming ‘adversarial’.
Bardot were the biggest girl band in Australia after forming on Popstars in 1999, and despite success with hit singles such as Poison, the group fell apart after just a few years and disbanded in early 2002.
Sophie denied that Bardot split to give her a solo career, saying: ‘I’m done with (Bardot) and was looking for a job. I didn’t know at all that they were going to ask me for a solo album’