Former Bardot member Belinda Chapple has revealed heartbreaking details about the popular girl group’s abrupt split in 2002. Just two year after releasing their number one single Poison, Bardot shocked fans when they announced they’d decided to part ways. While a lot of the blame was placed on Sophie Monk, who released a solo album 6 months after the split, Belinda revealed to News.com.au that there was a lot more to it.
The talented 45-year-old, who gave up singing and dancing not long after the group’s demise, said the decision to part ways had left her devastated. So much so, Belinda left Australia to live in Singapore where she now works as an interior designer for her own business, House of Chapple Interiors. Belinda recalled the demise of Bardot began in 2001, when it was announced Katie Underwood had left the group to appear in the musical Hair. The former popstar revealed the departure had been orchestrated by the group’s new manager, who wanted to get rid of Underwood.
“We had just taken on our new manager at the time, he was all for her doing it, and it was him that orchestrated the audition,” she said. “For me personally, my biggest surprise was that our own manager wanted her to leave the band, more or less. It was an unusual choice. And that was just the beginning of what happened afterwards …” Belinda told News.com.au. From there, the four remaining Bardot members released a new single, ‘ASAP’, and then ‘I Need Somebody,’ which made the top 5. Then in April 2002, when the girls were preparing to fly out to South Africa for concerts, an official statement was dropped, announcing the group’s ‘mutual decision’ to part ways. A statement Chapple wishes she’d never agreed to sign. The statement said the group needed ‘a well-earned break’ and implied the pace of their career had ‘taken a toll.’
“I look back and I think, I was so young, and I wish I’d done things differently. I wouldn’t have gone along with everything I was being told to do and say. I wouldn’t have signed that release we were made to sign, saying it was a mutual decision and that we needed a break because we were tired,” she says. “We hadn’t even finished promoting our second album. We had a whole year booked of really amazing gigs and performances. We were just about to head off to South Africa – the show had just aired over there and gone really well. We were booked for the second Rumba Festival. And then it all just suddenly … ceased,” she told News.com.au. Chapple is set to spill all the tea about the real reasons Bardot parted ways in a new tell all book she’s writing.
Last week, Bardot celebrated the 20th anniversary of number one hit song Poison being released. A milestone only three of the former band members celebrated publicly. Tiffani Wood, Katie Underwood and Chapple took to Zoom to sing the smash hit to celebrate, which delighted OG fans. Monk and Polihronas were distinct absentees. It’s clear Monk has attempted to distance herself from the hit show which launched her career. According to Chapple however, Polihronas was previously pushing for a reunion, but family commitments ended those dreams. Speaking of Polihronas, it appears she may have played a major part in the group’s split, with suggestion she was one of the main group member’s pushing for the group to break up. We’ll just have to wait for all the juicy details when Chapple’s book drops.