Nicole Scherzinger: My role in Cats saved me when I was going through Lewis Hamilton heartbreak

Scherzinger dated the Formula One champion on and off for eight years
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Alistair Foster15 March 2018
The Weekender

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Nicole Scherzinger says being cast in Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber “saved her” during her break-up with Lewis Hamilton.

The singer, 39, who rose to fame with the Pussycat Dolls, also spoke about her frustration at being typecast as a pop star, saying she was using only “a fraction” of her potential.

She played the outcast Grizabella in a revival of Lord Lloyd-Webber’s classic musical at the London Palladium from 2014 to 2015 when her eight-year on/off relationship with the Formula One star was coming to an end.

She said: “At that time in my life, I knew it was divine and I was meant to do that role. Where I was and what I was going through at that time — I would say it saved me. Just as Grizabella is saved night after night and was reborn again, I felt like I was doing the same thing in my life.

Support: Nicole Scherzinger said Cats saved her
Getty Images

“It’s no surprise, I was going through a break-up, but I was quiet about it. It was a very hard time for me, as it is for anybody who is going through heartache and heartbreak. When you’re going through a break-up you’re also dying yourself as well — if that makes sense — you’re sprouting new leaves and making transformations and shedding old skin. It’s about yourself as well when you’re going through those transitions in life.”

The X Factor judge, who is now dating tennis star Grigor Dimitrov, won acclaim for her stage performance. She said: “When it comes to music it gets frustrating when people do say, ‘Oh does she even sing...’ and yes people do stereotype me and underestimate me. I endlessly hear, ‘She’s a Pussycat Doll, can she even sing?’

Heartbreak: Nicole Scherzinger with Lewis Hamilton
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

“I don’t sing to blow people away — I don’t sing to get praise. I sing because it’s the best way I know to communicate and connect with people. It’s frustrating. A lot of people don’t know that a lot of the time I’m only using a fraction of my potential.”

She is among big names including Barbra Streisand, Beyoncé, Madonna and Michael Ball who have recorded songs for an album to mark Lord Lloyd-Webber’s 70th birthday. Unmasked: The Platinum Collection, out tomorrow, features Scherzinger singing Memory, from Cats.

She hinted at plans for a future project with the theatre impresario, saying: “When it comes to working with Andrew again, I’m just going to will it and put it out there. I know we will again. I keep bothering him saying, ‘Let’s do Evita!’ Or who knows — maybe create a new project with him?” She added: “In order to fully do what I do and use my full potential — as an actress, singer and dancer — I’m going to have to create something myself. So that’s what I’m in the works of. There’s a project I’m excited about that I’m working on creating. That’s a long way off. It’s going to take some real time to work through it.”

Memories: Nicole Scherzinger as Grizabella with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Right, her ex-boyfriend Lewis Hamilton

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