Ashley Roberts has said the stress of The Pussycat Dolls’ schedule caused her to “shut down”.
The singer, who now works as a TV and radio host in the UK, said touring and performing had such an impact on her health, doctors thought she was suffering from a brain aneurism.
Speaking on Jamie Laing’s Private Parts podcast, Roberts said: “The thing was, being in a girl band, we make people a lot of money so the schedule was outrageous.”
Roberts, who sang on the band’s biggest hits such as “Don’t Cha” and “Buttons”, then said: “I’m not going to lie, by the end I was breaking down. I was in the hospital.”
She added that doctors were concerned the singer was in real danger: “They thought I was having a brain aneurysm. I think it was just from going, going, going and my body was just shutting down really.”
Roberts said that the lowest point for her health happened while she was on tour in London: “I remember being in the hospital, I was actually here in London, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go to Germany, I’ve got to get on a plane now. I’ve got a show to do’.”
She also suffered a bout of viral arthritis while in hospital, with doctors telling her she needed to “rest”.
Since The Pussycat Dolls split in 2010, Roberts has appeared on Dancing on Ice, Strictly Come Dancing and The Jump reality shows in the UK.
She has also appeared in a West End production of Waitress and hosts the Breakfast Show on Heart Radio.
The Pussycat Dolls reunited in 2019 and were set to embark on a world tour before it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lead singer Nicole Scherzinger officially cancelled the tour earlier this month amid claims she and group founder Robin Antin had fallen out.
