← Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
BROADWAY STARS: Nicole Scherzinger on Her Tony Win for ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and Netflix's ‘Building the Band’ (July 2025)
00:42:07
Nicole Scherzinger is a Tony Award–winning actress and Grammy-nominated singer who made her Broadway debut in "Sunset Boulevard," which earned her the 2025 Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. In this Sunday Sitdown from July 2025, Scherzinger joins Willie Geist over pizza to reflect on her run as Norma Desmond, her chart-topping career with The Pussycat Dolls and her new Netflix show "Building the Band." She also opens up about her friendship with Liam Payne and working with him on his last major TV appearance before his passing.
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- [00:01]
Nicole Scherzinger
Before there are leaders, there are learners. Before progress, there's potential students are showing up ready to grow, but they need fully stocked classrooms to thrive. Donate now@donorschoose.org BackToSchool do you ever wonder.
- [00:17]
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If you might be at higher risk for getting very sick from a respiratory illness like flu? While most people have mild symptoms, respiratory illnesses can be more serious if you're over 65 years old or have certain underlying conditions. If you're in one of these higher risk groups and start feeling sick with a respiratory illness, get medical care as soon as possible. Talk to your doctor today about recommended vaccines. A message from cdc.
- [00:52]
Willie Geist
Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down Podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Very excited to bring you my conversation this week with Tony winning actress Nicole Scherzinger. She stars as the lead Norma Desmond. A Hollywood has been in the classic Broadway musical and movie before that, Sunset Boulevard. You probably met Nicole first way back in the Pussycat Dolls. Going back almost 20 years ago, they sold something like 50 million albums. The girl group. She went on to be a judge on shows like the X Factor, the Masked Singer, and now she's got a new series called Building the Band, Netflix. So she's had this career as kind of a pop star and then a judge on these talent competitions. But inside of her she's always been a theater kid with incredible talent and an incredible voice that was on display in the Pussycat Dolls but not quite in the way that it's been in Sunset Boulevard. So she has been an absolute revelation on Broadway. The show just closed Sunset Boulevard recently and she walked away with that Tony Award for leading actress in a musical. She was stunning in that show. So we got together kind of as a valedictory interview. It was the week the show was closing to reflect on this performance, this character in this show that has really changed her life and as she says, given her a chance to truly after all these years, show what she is capable of doing. Lovely to talk to. We got together at a place called Mineta Tavern, very famous place in New York City and really got to just let her exhale after this, about a year's run almost on Broadway and before that she had Sunset Boulevard on West End in London. She's seen a lot in her career but nothing quite like this and it was a great moment to catch up with her. So please sit back, relax and enjoy Nicole Scherzinger right now on the Sunday Sit down podcast.
- [02:53]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Nicole, thank you for doing this.
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Nicole Scherzinger
Thank you so much for having me.
- [02:57]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Last time I laid eyes on you, you were standing on a stage covered in blood and tears in the middle of a massive standing ovation. So I have to, like, reorient myself right now. But as we bring in the blood.
- [03:12]
Nicole Scherzinger
And the tears and the snot, we can do it again.
- [03:15]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Let's recreate it here, although you're doing it again tonight. So I'll give you a break. Today as we sit here, you have only eight shows left of Sunset Boulevard. This is kind of the beginning of your last week that ends on a Sunday. How are you feeling about that, given what this show has meant to you and has meant to so many people and how well received it's been? And you won the Tony and the reviews have been unanimously great. Fair to say it's changed your life. So how do you feel about the end coming here?
- [03:45]
Nicole Scherzinger
I mean, it's definitely changed my life. I. It's bittersweet, you know, I'm also very tired. I think I'm still in it because these last eight shows are just going to be such a joy for me. I think, actually, now just talking about it, I'm starting to tear up. I'm excited for the freedom that we're going to get to have on stage and share as a company together. But this is actually the Sunset Journey has, you know, taken over my life for the past two years. So I'm kind of ready, you know, but at the same time, I just. I'm ready for the chapter to be closed. And I'm excited for a new chapter to open after this. And I think, like, with Norma, she has really changed my life and I've grown and evolved so much that I feel like it's not good. I don't feel like it's goodbye. I feel like somehow I'll be singing as if we never said goodbye. Another time, maybe. That's at my Royal Albert hall show, my Carnegie Show. But I'm taking a big part of. I'm taking Norma with me, and I'm excited. So, yes, basically, we have been doing the Sunset Boulevard Journey for the past two years, so it's been a long journey. It's been the most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life. And, yeah, so it's definitely going to be bittersweet. I'm going to be. I'm just going to be crying all week. I have been crying actually the past few weeks. Yeah, I'm actually always crying, actually. Just another day in the life as Norma. I am, because she's so complex. And I feel so plugged in and in tune with her character. But it's just going to be happy tears and tears of like, wow, how this role has just changed my life. This opportunity, like you said, has changed my life. And I feel really, I'm in the best place I've ever been in my life because I finally feel like I'm living fully to my fullest purpose and potential and being able to share all of me, which is any artist knows, if you've not been able to do that, it's difficult to live in your skin right when you feel like you don't get to give all of you. And this has afforded me that and blessed me with that opportunity.
- [06:38]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And, man, do you give all of yourself on that stage every night, eight times a week. I was saying to you when I watched your performance, the emotion of it all you give, the power of your voice and all those songs, thinking, my God, she has to do that again tonight in a couple of hours. It's sort of a cliche, old Broadway question, but I think, especially in your case, I'm just curious what it's like to get up and do that every single day. Like you said, for two years almost.
- [07:08]
Nicole Scherzinger
Now, I, I have a really strong faith, to be honest with you, and that keeps me super grounded and that I just plug into that and it gives me the energy and the power and I just always say a prayer meditation at the top of the show to just be used. Because, you know, even though it's eight shows a week for that audience, it's their closing and their opening night shows, so you really want every show to be the best that it can be. You really want to give your all. So it does take a lot out of you. I just, anyone on Broadway, anyone in the theater, like, so much all the respect. I always say it's like the Olympics for theater. And it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it can be relentless, right? I always say I'm so exhausted, but I've never been more fulfilled. But it's, but it's like the dream. It's like right now I'm on steroids, right now I'm on antibiotics. I feel like I'm slowly falling apart. And I've never been happier in my life. I've never been more calm, confident. I've never been more at peace. I've never been more, like I said, fulfilled. So it's. This is the dream and is that.
- [08:29]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Owed to this show? Is that why you're feeling that way, in this moment, it is.
- [08:33]
Nicole Scherzinger
It's owed to this, this show, this new radical production that Jamie Lloyd dreamed up, Andrew Lloyd Webber, this brilliant masterpiece of a score, Christopher and Dawn, with these lyrics. It really is. It's. It's. It's great to be a part of such a beautiful work of art and to be able to express the deepest parts of you in your art, to be able to connect with people. I'm. I'm a cancer, so I'm super. I'm an empath. And then I just, like. That's what you desire. That's the dream, right? To be able to connect with others on the deepest levels possible and to. I don't know, to make people not feel alone. That's why I do this, because I know what that feels like. I don't know if I'm making any sense. My brain totally kind of gets discombobulated sometimes.
- [09:35]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
No, I'm right. Right with you. Yeah. I mean, the. One of the things that struck me going to the performance was when you first appeared on stage, you got a standing ovation before you even uttered a word or sang a note. And then, you know, after several songs, you got standing ovations. People, you moved people in such a way that was sort of this, like, up and down, up and down. People rising up out of their seats. As a performer, that has to, probably the first time it happened, be a little bit surprising, but also now so gratifying to know that you've hit somebody that hard that they're sort of interrupting the show to get up and tell you right away how they feel.
- [10:15]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah. Like I said, I honestly just feel so grateful that I can be used in that way. I feel like that is my gift, to be able to communicate in this way through this. This arf. Through theater, musical theater, through song, through music, and to be. It's just unbelievable connection. Like, the audience makes that magic as well. Like, you have to like, you know, an avatar when they, like, they. Their tails connect like that or something, and you make that connection. It's just to be able to just make that otherworldly, soulful, spiritual, divine connection is. It is the most gratifying thing. And I feel I'm so beyond grateful when I'm singing with one look or as if we never said goodbye, or even at the end when you just know that you are connected with the audience, that you know that together you are right here. And then when. I mean, it just. It's also full circle for me because I feel like, wow, Little Nicole has come so far. Like little lanky, awkward, insecure Nicole, who felt like she didn't have a voice is standing up there with her hands like this in a triumphant pose and like, and being brave and bold and, and courageous. And hopefully I can inspire other people to do that too, because it wasn't always like that for me. And that's why it's so important to follow your heart's whisper and what you really want to do in life and your passion in life because that's like your gift. And when you follow that, that's your superpower.
- [12:25]
Willie Geist
Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Nicole Scherzinger right after the break.
- [12:33]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
With my job, I can't drink during the week. Weekends are a different story.
- [12:39]
Person discussing TD
After eight hours of this, I have earned my wine.
- [12:42]
Nicole Scherzinger
You know what I'm saying?
- [12:43]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
My family is a lot. It takes me four beers just to hang out with them.
- [12:48]
Public Health Announcer
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- [13:04]
CDC Announcer
Do you ever wonder if you might be at higher risk for getting very sick from a respiratory illness like flu? While most people have mild symptoms, respiratory illnesses can be more serious if you're over 65 years old or have certain underlying conditions. If you're in one of these higher risk groups and start feeling sick with a respiratory illness, get medical care as soon as possible. Talk to your doctor today about recommended vaccines. A message from cdc.
- [13:34]
Public Health Announcer
You can't count on much these days.
- [13:36]
Nicole Scherzinger
No way, Jim.
- [13:37]
Public Health Announcer
This is incredible. But you can always count on Sundays with the NFL on CBS and Paramount.
- [13:43]
Willie Geist
Here we go.
- [13:44]
Public Health Announcer
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- [14:06]
Willie Geist
Welcome back. Now, more of my conversation with Nicole Scherzinger.
- [14:10]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
I've heard you say in other interviews along those lines, this sense of belonging that you didn't really feel as a kid until later on when you kind of found your people at a performing arts high school. But talk about belonging, this is your Broadway debut. I'm sure there were some people saying, all right, let's see, let's see how she does. And then you come out and just kill it. And you are not just Part of the Broadway family, but now one of the leaders. You won the Tony. That must be a thrill to have been so accepted by Broadway.
- [14:41]
Nicole Scherzinger
I really feel like I have come home at last. I really feel like I am back where I was born to be. These are lyrics from Norma's songs, right. I feel like those songs were written for me, and a lot of people don't know that. I come from a musical theater and a theater background, like you said. And I went to a youth performing arts high school. And there's a quote that I used to have. One of my favorite quotes is when you. When you feel like you don't belong, it's because you were born to create. When you feel like you don't fit into the world or that you don't belong in the world, it's because you are meant to create a new one. And that's always stuck with me because I have, for the most part of my life, felt like I just didn't belong. And I just. This community is very special because the arts are just so magical. When you. When people don't put restraints and put you in a box and boundaries on you, you can really fly, you know? And I feel like I'm just so grateful that I've been able to share what I've been that. What I've had inside of me for my whole life and never gotten to share that. And this community, this community has been so beautiful. Like, it's. It's a different energy. It's, like, not competitive. It's not. Not like they don't put you down, they lift you up, they're excited. They want you to, you know, you know, thrive in your highest calling, in your highest power. And that's really inspiring. And I'm. I want to be able to do, give that to people, too, you know?
- [16:44]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And the culmination of all that was when you won the Tony Award.
- [16:47]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah.
- [16:47]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
First of all, you perform in Glenn Close introduces you. Right. I mean, that's pretty cool.
- [16:55]
Nicole Scherzinger
Also, Lee, I want to say something really fast, I've never said before, and I like what you said, and hopefully this inspires somebody, whether you guys use it or not. But it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you, because like you said, people have been on me my whole life, kind of.
- [17:11]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Right.
- [17:12]
Nicole Scherzinger
And just kind of like dismissing me and discarding me or overlooking me, and it didn't matter because I knew what I had to give was so much greater and even beyond, beyond me. So if you just, like, follow your heart's whisper, and your passions, then it doesn't matter. You're going to be able to live in your purpose and be your, your happiest and your most fulfilled and live a really meaningful life. And I just like you said, I'm. I know that people were already when I was coming out with this role, even Jamie Lloyd, our director said they were like, who? What? Nicole? Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard. Can she even sing? You know, act. And it doesn't matter because as long as you believe it and it comes from the right place and it comes from a place of truth and heart and soul and honesty, then you gonna blow em all away.
- [18:11]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
That's beautifully said. I mean, do you feel, given what you just said, like you had something to prove here? Like when you sing, I see a woman maybe with a little chip on her shoulder, somebody who wants to blow you out of the back of the theater a little bit and just lift you up and inspire you. But because of everything you just said. Where to the casual Broadway fan, they go, oh yeah, I know her from the Masked Singer or the Pussycat Dolls or like, okay, let's see how this goes. And then you're like, whoa, there's almost an element of like. And to you, what you're saying is, no, that's always been there. Yeah, I just needed somewhere to display it.
- [18:43]
Nicole Scherzinger
I think it just adds just more fuel to the fire. It's not why I do it because that would come from the wrong place. It always comes from a place of heart and soul and spirit for me. But it definitely gives me my superpowers and my strength to really dig deep. I'm just so passionate about what I do. I care so much. At the very end willy of the, of the show, when she's kind of going mad, she says, this is my life. It always will be. There is nothing else. And every night it's like I'm saying it for the first time. I just love it and I do, I love this so much. And I'm so happy to be like I said, to have come home at last.
- [19:34]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So then what did that Tony mean to you? I think you were happy to be on Broadway and to be accepted. And they're saying, not only are you accepted, but here's our biggest award. What was that night like for you?
- [19:45]
Nicole Scherzinger
Well, if you go on my Instagram, I actually wrote what it meant to me. I had to think about it because when I, when you know you win, you're just, it's such an out of body experience. You're like, what is happening? And they asked, and we're like, what does this mean? And I'm like, I don't know. Like, I don't. Haven't really, fully, fully taken it in yet. But I went away that week after the shows, coming home and thinking, like, oh, my God, what does this truly mean? And it just means, you know, just all of the sacrifice and all of the love and all of the perseverance and everything is just. It wasn't for nothing. It's not for nothing. And it didn't go unnoticed. And. And I'm so grateful because there are so many unbelievably talented people out there who have never even been nominated for a Tony, let alone who's been nominated and hasn't won one. So to just be acknowledged and recognized in that light with all of the other greats and legends is like, I will tell you. I worked for it, though.
- [20:58]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Nobody handed that to you?
- [21:03]
Nicole Scherzinger
No, I fought for it and I worked for it. And it's nice to know that when you put your head down in the work town and you make the sacrifices that you make in the silence, that it will come back to you.
- [21:19]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
I told you a minute ago what my wife said, and I'll sanitize it. She came home from the show and I said, how was it? She said, if she doesn't win the Tony, they should cancel the Tonys. So she was right. She predicted this accurately.
- [21:32]
Nicole Scherzinger
I love your wife. Thank you.
- [21:34]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So you were talking about the little girl who you were and was trying to figure out who she was. Born in Hawaii. You moved to Louisville, Kentucky. You're of Filipina and Ukrainian, Hawaiian and Hawaiian ancestry, and you come to this place, Louisville, Kentucky. Okay, where do I fit in here? Is that why you started performing? Was that a way for you to have a voice? Was that a way for you to find a group of friends or when did performance sort of become interesting to you?
- [22:09]
Nicole Scherzinger
I think it was something I was born with. I was always. I felt always really awkward when I was little. I was very lanky and was like the brownie in Louisville, Kentucky, I call it, in my family growing up. And I always watched my mom hula dancing when I was younger, and she was a part of her family had a group called the Sons and Daughters of Hawaii, and they would sing and dance and my tutu would play ukulele, and she has the most unbelievable voice. So I watched them growing up, and then obviously I would sing in church, but for me. And then when I was six, I discovered Whitney Houston. And that Changed my life. Like, the power of her voice was like. Literally, it was like God singing to me. And it just penetrated my heart so deeply. And I think from a young age, I just knew I speaking wasn't really my thing. I was very shy. I was the first girl to always want to hide behind my mom's legs. But music did something else to me. It just brought something else out in me, and I felt that was a way I knew how to communicate best with people, was through music and through singing. So I think it just chose me. I was just something that I was. It was born within me. And then I come from very humble beginnings. So we didn't have any money. I couldn't take any lessons or anything. So I planned at a very young age. I had found out that there was a youth performing arts high school that was attached to a magnet school in Louisville, Kentucky, and in order for me to get there, I would have to go to the magnet school, middle school. So as an. In elementary school, I was planning out how do I get into that middle school to hopefully be able to audition to get into that high school? Because, you know, my family, my dad was welder, and my mother did, like, office work and stuff and just took care of. Did everything to take care of us. So, yeah, I kind of planned it from a young age of like, what am I going to do to be able to get the education or to be around the people that I want to be around so I can. I can learn.
- [24:39]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
That's amazing. You're like 9 or 10 years old, sort of plotting out where it's going to land you hope.
- [24:45]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah.
- [24:45]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And you got there.
- [24:46]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yes.
- [24:46]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And you kept getting there, and you kept getting to the next place. When did it become, Nicole, a career goal to be a performer? Because it's one thing to perform in high school and that's fun. And then I'll go on to college and get some other job, maybe. Was it always like, this is it? No. Plan B. I don't.
- [25:04]
Nicole Scherzinger
I don't know if I ever was, like. I don't know if I ever looked at it as, like, a career. I obviously was so inspired by Whitney Houston. So you want to become a singer like that? But it was when I was in middle school and I was a part of this, like, fun tour show group, and I was the understudy for this guy, and he didn't show up that night, and so I had to go out and sing for him. It was my first time singing in front of a real live audience. And when I. I sang, everyone stood up and I couldn't believe that because I didn't know what I'd done. I just sang for the first time in front of an audience. And I think from there that just kind of gave me the confidence, like, this is your lane. This is how you connect with people the most. And that's kind of just gotten me to where I am today as opposed to like I am, you know. And then obviously, I guess growing up, seeing Whitney Houston and then Paula Abdul with her dancing, you can only dream. But it's not like, I guess the career just kind of, I don't know, chose me.
- [26:26]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Right. If you have the passion for it.
- [26:28]
Nicole Scherzinger
Passion and talent. I just followed my passions and it's led me to have this career, thank God.
- [26:34]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And your first big gig, I think was the result of a Whitney Houston audition, wasn't it, for pop stars? Did you do I Will Always Love youe, Right?
- [26:43]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah.
- [26:43]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
That's a big song to walk in a room.
- [26:46]
Nicole Scherzinger
Oh my gosh, that's right. I auditioned for pop stars. It was the whole forefront of this whole talent series search.
- [26:56]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah.
- [26:57]
Nicole Scherzinger
Right. On television. And I. I'll. I'll never forget. I. I had been recording before that in high school with people and just trying to like, I guess it was high school maybe, that I was like around my kind, as I call them, my tribe and being like, I'm going to try to make a career out of this. And I heard about this audition. My mother actually told me about it. And I got together like a resume and a portfolio and I shot a music video with my boyfriend at the time and got it all together and drove up to Chicago for an audition in the middle of the night and waited. I was four in the morning waiting to be seen for the pop stars. And. And yeah, and then I earned a place in Eden's crush after that. Right, Sorry, what was the question?
- [28:05]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
No, that, that. I mean, just singing a Whitney Houston to sing an iconic song like that.
- [28:11]
Nicole Scherzinger
I loved Whitney so much, you know, So I sang I will always love you because the song spoke to my heart. I don't know if I had any business choosing that song.
- [28:20]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
That's a big one.
- [28:21]
Nicole Scherzinger
I wouldn't sing that probably again just cause it's such a big song and I think only Whitney should be singing these songs. Well, that and this artist named Shaleya, who's unbelievable. She's one of the greatest singers. But yeah, so, yeah, like I said, I don't think I had any business singing that song, but it spoke to my heart.
- [28:41]
Willie Geist
Stick around for more of my conversation with Nicole Scherzinger. Right after a quick break, my uncontrollable.
- [28:48]
Person discussing TD
Movements called TD tardive dyskinesia felt embarrassing. I felt like disconnecting. I asked my doctor about treating my TD and learned about in a prescription medicine clinically proven for reducing TD in adults. That's always one capsule once daily and number one prescribed. People taking in can stay on most.
- [29:06]
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- [29:37]
Person discussing TD
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CDC Announcer
Do you ever wonder if you might be at higher risk for getting very sick from a respiratory illness like flu? While most people have mild symptoms, respiratory illnesses can be more serious if you're over 65 years old or have certain underlying conditions. If you're in one of these higher risk groups and start feeling sick with a respiratory illness, get medical care as soon as possible. Talk to your doctor today about recommended vaccines. A message from cdc.
- [30:36]
Willie Geist
Welcome back. Now to the rest of my conversation with Nicole Scherzinger.
- [30:41]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So now you're in a band. Eden's Crush. You had a rock band before that?
- [30:45]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yes.
- [30:45]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Right?
- [30:46]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yes.
- [30:46]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
You were in a rock band before that?
- [30:47]
Nicole Scherzinger
I was in a rock band. Days of the Noose signed to Geffen Records.
- [30:50]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah. And they had some big songs and spun off a lot of talent. Including yourself?
- [30:55]
Nicole Scherzinger
Well, that was Travis Meeks. He was the genius behind all of that and I was just so grateful to be a part of it and to be a part of a band with brilliant jazz musicians. I mean, the musicians in that band were just amazing and I got to tour with them. I toured with Lake Bush and Foo Fighters. Yeah, a really cool experience.
- [31:14]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So Eden's Crush lasts. It's a sort of a brief run, but Leads you to Pussycat Dolls, which I was looking up the numbers again. In some ways I think you guys are underrated. Like you sold 55 million albums.
- [31:27]
Nicole Scherzinger
Did we?
- [31:27]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And you're Grammy nominated and you're massive hits. And like you guys were. Are you sure that's the number that's out there? We checked it. You're like, wait, I gotta talk to my accountant.
- [31:39]
Nicole Scherzinger
I didn't even know that. That's amazing.
- [31:41]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
They sold a ton. You sold a ton of albums. What do you remember about that time as that group sort of took off and you were the face of the group and the main singer? Was that a fun time? Was it a stressful time? What was that like?
- [31:56]
Nicole Scherzinger
I was so green.
- [31:58]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah.
- [31:58]
Nicole Scherzinger
I was so young and I was afraid to speak up. And I just, you know, it was a big opportunity to get me out of Louisville, Kentucky. I had no idea how I would have ever gotten to. Wow. Los Angeles, California, you know. And so that was my ticket, that opportunity. And I just wanted to do the best that I could. But I was so green, so young. Now I'm a beast. And I'll tell you what I think and how it is. I'm calloused over. Welly, no, it's, it's was. It was. I. I learned a lot from that experience and I thought the girls were just beautiful. I'm. I'm. I was super stoked at that time. Pop stars was what, 2005 or something? And I love that we all like had brunette hair and they were all from different backgrounds and I just loved how diverse the group was before anything else. I was really proud to be a part of it. And we got to tour with Jessica Simpson and NSync, which was huge for us.
- [33:09]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [33:09]
Nicole Scherzinger
And actually I think it was going over the. Was it the Brooklyn Bridge when we found out that our song Get Over Yourself was number one in the country.
- [33:22]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Wow.
- [33:22]
Nicole Scherzinger
So that was. That was big time for us.
- [33:24]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah, that's huge.
- [33:25]
Nicole Scherzinger
It was short lived, but, you know, it's like the steps that you need to take and learn and evolve and grow from because God's preparing you for.
- [33:32]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
That's right.
- [33:33]
Nicole Scherzinger
Something bigger.
- [33:34]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Right. Which was Pussycat Dolls. Right. Which was huge. That. Pussycat Dolls, to be clear, was the 50 million albums.
- [33:40]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yes. I don't think it is great.
- [33:46]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
No, Pussycat Dolls sold those. But that was. You guys were huge. I mean, obviously Pussycat Dolls were massive. Was there an element though of like, because of your success? It was like, go, go, go. And we're going to put you out there in this show and this tour and this, like. Not that you would have minded that. I'm sure it was exciting. But was there an element of, like, this is working, like go 100 miles an hour until it ends?
- [34:12]
Nicole Scherzinger
Basically, yes. It was crazy. It was a whirlwind. It was like. We were like. I think Eminem was at his height at that time. And they were even like, your schedule is even crazier than Eminem schedule. You know, it was like a roller coaster beyond. And it was a lot. A lot of things have happened. The times have changed, Willy, since the Pussycat Dolls, you know, now we have, like mental health and, you know, awareness. We never had any of that then, so they kind of just worked us to death. But I am. I'm a workaholic. It's in my blood. Being Hawaiian, Ukrainian, Filipina, I just love to work. And I just remember we were on tour and I heard Umbrella by Rihanna and I was like, and what is our next single like? It was always like, what's the next. What can we do? How can it be better? And I was. I'm just. I was super driven. I'm still super driven, but I was just like, you want to be on top and you want to be the best. But our, you know, our group had its time and it was a lot. It just wasn't natural, like, not involving sleep and not having any balance whatsoever in our schedule. So it was just natural that we fizzled out and everybody went their separate ways.
- [35:49]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So it's like nobody asked how you guys were doing. It was going so well and people were making money. They were like, get back out there.
- [35:56]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah. No, no, no. It's. We didn't have. It was. It was crazy. It's. Things are so different now. And now you can have a voice and now it's not right. And now, you know, we would forget eight hours. We just worked 24 hours non stop. It was. It was insane. But we were. We were. Me and the girls were committed. I mean, you gotta do that to have the success that. Global success if you want it. You know, it's a lot talking about.
- [36:26]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Your start on pop stars sort of has come full circle now with your new series, Building the Band, which is very cool. You've had all this experience with the X Factor and the Masked Singer, these kind of shows, but this is something different. I got to watch the first few episodes. It's really good, first of all. But the concept is cool.
- [36:44]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah.
- [36:44]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
How do you describe it to people?
- [36:46]
Nicole Scherzinger
I love the concept like you said, it is different, and it's original. It's basically kind of like. It's basically like love is blind. But the musical version, right, it's finding love connections, but through music compatibility and chemistry.
- [37:03]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
I like it.
- [37:04]
Nicole Scherzinger
Right. It's cool. Everybody is like, we have these unbelievable singers, these amazing singers that are in these pods, and they just listen to each other sing and speak and vibe, and it has nothing to do with appearance. And they've never seen each other before, and they put themselves. They choose who they want to be in a band with. Just going off of, like, what's your sound, what kind of album you want to make? You know, what's your. You know, just gelling, like natural chemistry. And they put themselves in bands, and I think that's really cool. It's like, it's not how. Like Liam says in our show, it's not how we were put together. You know, it's not the industry standard and label execs putting you together. It's all happening naturally. It's a. It's an amazing social experiment, and it's chemistry. Chemistry prevails.
- [38:08]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
It's sort of a rejection.
- [38:10]
Nicole Scherzinger
Music chemistry prevails.
- [38:11]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Yeah. It's kind of a rejection of all the things you were talking about, which is like, focusing on the artificial side and the image and all. It's like, if you can sing, we want you in the group, period. And the. The moments are so cool when they've sort of gotten to know each other just through singing. And then when they finally get to come on a stage together and that door goes up.
- [38:31]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yeah.
- [38:31]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And the way the smiles they have when they put a face to the voice.
- [38:35]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yep. I can imagine they have heebie jeebies. You're like, that's what you look like. I had it in my mind that you looked like something else. Like, that's what you like. You're in the flesh. It's. It's super cool, and it's super fun, and I love that, like you said, it just takes out the whole artificial side of everything, and it's on a deeper. It's about a deeper connection, and you'll see as the show unravels and when you continue to watch the show, who will actually start to grow and evolve and build, and it's nothing to do with what you would have once perceived would have worked.
- [39:14]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
You mentioned Liam. Liam Payne, of course, of One Direction, who tragically died last year, went forward, I know, with the blessing of his family and have a beautiful tribute to him at the top of the Show. What did he bring to that set into that show as you got to know him better personally?
- [39:33]
Nicole Scherzinger
Well, you know, I put One Direction together, so it's come full circle for us, and then it's full circle for Liam because he had the success with One Direction. And what did he bring? He brought the personal experience. He's lived it. You know, he. He. I'm. I'm so happy for people to see. Sorry. I saw it last night with him.
- [40:01]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And so, yeah, he's very joyful in the show. He is watching the show.
- [40:14]
Nicole Scherzinger
Liam is. Okay. I'm so excited for people to see this show because Liam just shines in the show. He's just a natural, beautiful, bright light. He's. Anyone who knows him, he is a very kind, giving heart, and he gets to, you know, give back. He's been there with One Direction. He's done it all, and he's able to give really good advice from a very personal place, you know, and he's great at it. He just shines on the show, and he brings a joy to the show and a sweetness, and I'm just. I'm blown away with him on the show. Even when I was working with him, I was like, wow, he really knows what he's talking about. And he's super articulate, and he's just. And he was a dear friend of mine, and so I'm happy that people get to remember him in this beautiful light where he's shining.
- [41:19]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
I'm so sorry the loss of your friend. It is. There's something about when we heard the news of his death, it felt so dark and didn't line up with what we'd seen on tv. Exactly. People are complicated. And then to get this impression of him now, I think will be beautiful for his fans.
- [41:37]
Nicole Scherzinger
Exactly. Beautifully said, people. Everyone's complicated. It's called humans. It's the human spirit and soul. And I just wish I could only just pray for people to be more compassionate and understanding, because everybody, at some point in their life, if not right now, is going through something, and you just never know. And Liam was in a great place when we. We did the show, and we had a great time with him. Kelly's so amazing. She's such a boss and so brilliant and so strong, and we all. All four of us just gelled so well and.
- [42:23]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
And, yeah, it's an amazing lineup. I mean, you've got Destiny's Child, One Direction, Backstreet Boys, and Miss Tony winner Nicole Scherzinger and Pussycat Dolls. Come on.
- [42:34]
Nicole Scherzinger
Right.
- [42:34]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Of course. I'm throwing the Tony in now. Yeah, we got a new one to put on the resume. Oh, it's great.
- [42:40]
Nicole Scherzinger
Like I said, my Tony is right. When you walk in the door, you're not subtle. Not subtle. Tattoo. But yeah. So it's. Yeah, I'm excited.
- [42:52]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
It's great. It's really good. And it's beautiful to see Liam in that light. Before we get up and have a slice of pizza, I want to talk a little bit about what's next for you. I don't mean to rush you along. I'm going to let you have a vacation for a couple of weeks. God knows you've earned it. But there's some really exciting performances coming up in London, New York and la.
- [43:10]
Nicole Scherzinger
Yes. I have the honor of performing at these iconic venues coming up. Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert hall and Disney Hall. And so I'm gonna put on my own show. So I get you for one night only. You're all mine and I cannot wait. It's. I'm basically wanna just sing songs. All the roles that I've never gotten to play. Willie.
- [43:37]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Right.
- [43:37]
Nicole Scherzinger
And all of the songs I've wanted to sing and share with people that are very personal and very specific and meaningful to me and who I am and what makes Nicole up. All of the many facets of Nicole. I'm gonna sing those songs and try to give hopefully one of the best shows of these people's lives. No pressure, but I will.
- [44:02]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
I think it's already sold out, so you're fine.
- [44:04]
Nicole Scherzinger
It's sold out. It's sold out within a couple days. I couldn't believe it. I feel super blessed and have a lot of projects that I'm. I'm working on right now, looking into maybe some films and music.
- [44:17]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
So I'm so happy for you. Honestly, you really deserve it. And I think what Sunset Boulevard has done has opened people's eyes to. It's the book by a cover thing where they're like, oh, yeah, I've seen her on reality shows and the Pussycat Dolls. And then you see you like this and then you start to read your story and you're like, you've had this since you were like a little girl in Hawaii. And then you fought for it at that performing arts high school in Kentucky. And now you come to this point where you're being celebrated. So congratulations.
- [44:47]
Nicole Scherzinger
Thank you.
- [44:48]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
A lot of people are very happy for you.
- [44:49]
Nicole Scherzinger
Thank you. It's crazy. My Chris Rock came to see the show, saw me backstage, and he just looked at me and he said, finally and then he said, how many years have I known you now? Known you all these years you think you know a person and you have no idea. So it's awesome to be able to surprise people and to surprise ourselves. So may we continue to do that.
- [45:20]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Amen. Congratulations. So great to talk to you.
- [45:23]
Nicole Scherzinger
Thank you, Willie. You're the best.
- [45:25]
Interviewer (Willie Geist)
Thanks.
- [45:32]
Willie Geist
My big thanks again to Nicole for a great conversation building. The Band is streaming now on Netflix. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear all of these conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.
- [46:11]
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