Ex-Sugababe Amelle Berrabah has revealed a ‘few secrets’ will be exposed in a new BBC documentary.
The pop star, 41, joined the ever-evolving band in 2005 when she took over from Mutya Buena and stuck around until the girl group went on hiatus in 2011, working with bandmates Heidi Range and Jade Ewen.
The trio released the seventh album, Sweet 7, before their split, but it’s unlikely we’ll see them reunited on stage anytime soon – although there is said to be no bad blood between the five of them.
In 2019, the original Brit award-winning line-up – Mutya, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy – won a legal battle to reclaim the name, meaning Amelle and co can’t get back together under the same banner.
Discussing the 2011 split on Fubar Radio in 2019, Berrabah said: ‘It did get a little messy because it wasn’t left on the best of terms. It wasn’t left on “Oh, I am ready to leave now…”. I’m just sorry that Jade [who joined in 2009] didn’t get to experience a longer period; she was just getting into it.’
Her hoped-for reunion never happened, and now, she has teased we may hear more about the behind-the-scenes in new BBC documentary, Girlbands Forever.
In an Instagram post promoting the show, she wrote: ‘Had such a wonderful time chatting all things girlbands for the BBC show ‘Girlbands Forever’.
‘It brought back so many amazing memories — from my time in the Sugababes to the incredible era of pop that shaped so many of us.
‘So grateful to have been part of it all, and to share a few laughs (and maybe a few secrets) along the way!
‘Sending love to all the girlbands who paved the way and to all the music lovers who still keep the music alive! Girlbands Forever promises a nostalgic trip through that time in pop music history.’
As the last standing original member, Keisha has claimed she was ousted from the band in 2009 by management (and replaced by Jade).
She recalled ‘being sat down [in 2009] and told: “This person feels bullied, that one there feels bullied” and I was like “I was giving that one a foot massage legit the day before”,’ according to Hello.
She later said the situation took her years to ‘process in therapy’ and her reluctance to reform several years on with her first bandmates.
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They’re supposed to be well beyond their ostensible peak, but they rolled back the years with ease, gliding through a stacked back catalogue that puts them in the conversation for being Britain’s best ever girl group. Their longevity cannot be overstated.
I left Co-op Live absolutely assured that very few girl groups from these shores could imprint themselves on my heart as firmly as Keisha, Mutya, and Siobhan have, and I’d be satisfied if we gave them the British girl group crown right now.
‘I was actually done with girl bands. For all of us, one thing that we wanted to do was meet with each other first to see if we had chemistry still.
‘Mutya and I have had this bond since we were kids, but Siobhan and I didn’t really have a relationship…,’ she recently told Glamour.
Meanwhile, Mutya recently opened up about the tough mental health circumstances which ultimately drove her away from the band the first time.
‘For me, when I left, it was at the time when I’d just had my daughter,’ she told the publication about her struggle with postnatal depression.
Heidi also exited the band in 2001 due to depression and feelings of isolation.
The highs and lows the group went through did bring them closer together for this reunion, however.
‘Being able to go through those trenches, to constantly be told no, constantly told who we should be, to have those frustrations… we had every reason to give up, but then God was like, “It’s your time,”,’ Keisha said.
Their latest tour has proven a huge success, with plans to also release a studio album.
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