THE CAT'S ME-OUCH

Pussycat Doll Reveals How Girl Band Career Almost Killed Her

Now in her forties, Ashley Roberts is opening up about what pushed her body to the ‘point of shutdown.’

When Ashley Roberts joined the Pussycat Dolls in 2003, she had no idea the level of fame—and pain—that lay in store for her. In an interview with The Times U.K., the 43-year-old performer revealed that her time in the girl group (Roberts joined in 2003 until the group disbanded in 2010) was riddled with intense anxiety and overworking. With chart-toppers like “Don’t Cha” and “Buttons,” the group should’ve felt on top of the world, but Roberts says that this era was debilitatingly taxing, both emotionally and physically. By 2010, she recalls, she had “eczema all over my legs, shingles across my face, and a stomach ulcer,“ and says the stress of the girl group exacerbated her lifelong dependency on Xanax. (In Roberts’s words, she “was just leaning on what I could get to help me crash out” amid the nonstop performances, public appearances, and travel.) Eventually, her health problems, compounded by the effects of addiction and exhaustion, reached a crisis point, requiring inpatient care at a hospital. Now, Roberts channels her painful experiences into helping others, including the July 2025 release of a book, Breathwork: Techniques for Better Mental, Emotional and Physical Health, which offers guidance to anyone seeking healthier ways to cope.