Sophie Monk is breaking her silence on why pop girl group Bardot really split up – after her 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 20 years of silence.
The Love Island presenter, 43, has taken the blame for the girl group’s split after her former bandmate Belinda Chapple published her memoir The Girl in the Band.
In the book, the 48-year-old creative director said Bardot split because her manager David Caplice wanted Sophie to pursue 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 told News.com.au on Saturday.
“When she said that, I said, ‘I’d like to go too.’ And [David] said, “No, you can’t go because then we only have three left and we need you to stay another year.”‘
Sophie Monk, 43, (pictured) has finally spoken out about the collapse of early 2000s pop sensation Bardot after more than 20 years of silence
Sophie went on to say that she reluctantly agreed to stay with Bardot for another year and record another album, while Katie left in 2001 to pursue other offers.
The TV presenter also addressed the band’s breakup a year later and the rumors that she caused it with her pursuit of a solo career.
Sophie denied she was the only reason for this, declaring: “I’m done.” [Bardot] and looked for a job. “I had absolutely no idea they were going to ask me to do a solo album.”
The Love Island presenter recently took the blame for the girl group’s split after former bandmate Belinda Chapple, 48, (pictured) published her memoir The Girl in the Band
However, former bandmate Belinda painted a completely different picture of the incident in her memoir.
Belinda said she, Sophie, Katie, Sally Polihronas and Tiffani Wood were all close at first and “played around a lot”.
But things quickly changed within the group of friends as they became famous among pop stars as “Australia’s answer to the Spice Girls”.
In the book, the creative director said Bardot (pictured) split because her manager David Caplice wanted Sophie to pursue a solo career – a claim she has vehemently denied
Belinda said Sophie became “distant” and began to “disassociate herself” from the other women as she got her own photo shoots and “got the best outfits in film clips”.
Meanwhile, the band’s former manager David claimed Bardot broke up after an “explosive” argument backstage before their Mardi Gras performance in 2002.
The manager told News.com.au in 2020 that things had become “controversial”.
Bardot was Australia’s biggest girl band after forming at Popstars in 1999. Although they had success with hit singles like Poison, the group fell apart after just a few years and disbanded in early 2002.
Sophie denied that Bardot broke up to allow her a solo career, stating: “I broke up.” [Bardot] and looked for a job. I didn’t know they would even ask me for a solo album.