Nicole Scherzinger has said that she was 'devastated' after producers of the new Cats movie refused to give her an audition.
Scherzinger played the role of Grizabella in the 2014 production of the show in the West End, but famously fell foul of director Andrew Lloyd Webber after she pulled out of taking the show to Broadway.
“That really upset me, I won’t lie about that,” she told The Guardian. “I was devastated.”
“I just wanted to be given a fair opportunity - then you can turn me down. Turn me down to my face, at least, and they didn’t.”
Read more: Rebel Wilson loved ‘polarised’ response to Cats trailer
The former Pussycat Dolls singer went on to say that she was 'comforted' by Lloyd Webber's wife Madeleine over the phone after not getting seen for the movie, adding that the Lloyd Webbers are 'like family' to her.
Lloyd Webber himself, however, who composed the celebrated musical famously called her 'an absolute t**t' in 2016 when she quit the show just prior to rehearsals starting on Broadway, in order to return to The X Factor a a judge.
He told Economist Radio at the time: “I’m furious because I really believe she’s the most fantastically talented girl and I went out on a limb to get her for the London Palladium here.
“But never mind, there’ll be another girl on Broadway and Nicole will not get her Tony award.”
However, come 2018, the pair had made up again, Lloyd Webber describing her as 'one of the most talented artists I’ve ever worked with' and 'a God given musical theatre actress' in a later interview with Billboard.
Grizabella, who sings the famous song ‘Memory’, is played by Jennifer Hudson in the forthcoming movie, directed by Tom Hooper.
Read more: New Cats trailer lands
She's part of a stunning all-star cast, including James Corden, Dame Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Sir Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward, the principle dancer at the Royal Ballet in her first movie role.
Per the official synopsis: “Over the course of a single night, a tribe of cats called the Jellicles make what is known as 'the Jellicle choice' and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.”
However, the first trailer for the movie, which arrived over the summer, caused something of a storm on social media, some dubbing it 'nightmare fuel'.
It's released in the UK on 20 December.
