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Nicole Scherzinger: ‘Cats got me through split from Lewis Hamilton’

Nicole Scherzinger says performing in the West End was the “only thing that really kept me going” during her break-up with Lewis Hamilton.

The actress and singer revealed that her seven-year relationship with the 32-year-old Formula One driver ended during her run as Grizabella in Cats at the London Palladium.

In a heartfelt interview with the Standard, she also spoke about her clash with Andrew Lloyd Webber, revealing the pair have “made up” after she pulled out of the Broadway version of his musical.

The star, 38, was in Cats in late 2014 and early 2015. She said: “I’ve never shared this with anyone, but during that time I was going through a break-up with my ex that I had been with for almost seven years, so the theatre was the most cathartic place for me.

On stage: Nicole Scherzinger in the West End production of Cats
On stage: Nicole Scherzinger in the West End production of Cats

"It was the only thing that kind of kept me going because I had to keep all that hidden. Every night I just bared my heart and soul on that stage and it was the only thing that really kept me going.”

She has since been dating Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, 25, but was tight-lipped about the relationship. “I’m not able to say anything about it,” she said. “I’m very happy where I am.”

She was speaking after filming a Müller yoghurt campaign at an athletics stadium in Cape Town.

The former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman has sold more than 60 million records, but despite her success still feels as if she is an outsider — like her Cats character.

She said: “Grizabella had a broken heart and she felt like an outsider, and she was an outsider the way that people treated her, and I identified with her on those levels. I’ve always felt like an outsider my whole life.”

Scherzinger grew up in Kentucky, studied musical theatre at university then joined several bands.

Happier times: Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger back in 2014 (Dave Benett)
Happier times: Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger back in 2014 (Dave Benett)

She said: “I’ve always felt a little bit alien. I was quite shy growing up. When I got to college I was always alone. Even when I was in all my groups and stuff I was very alone, I don’t know if that’s just me or what it is, but it’s true.”

Last summer the star left Lloyd Webber “furious” when she pulled out of the Broadway version of Cats a week before rehearsals began, after she was offered the chance to return as a judge on The X Factor.

She said: “I think Andrew was so upset because he’s always been my biggest champion and believer.

"But as it worked out, I was really happy to be on The X Factor and Andrew and I and his family, we’ve all made up again and we’re a big happy family and I can’t wait to work with him again.

"We just went to dinner, me and his wife Madeleine and had a laugh — they’re family to me, they’ve always been so good to me, and when people are close like that business gets personal, but yes, we’re all on great terms.”

Scherzinger was a judge on the first series of the US version of The X Factor and was on the UK panel for two series from 2012, before returning last year.

She said: “They’ve invited me back and we’ll see. I think right now it’s a new year so I’m in a very creative space and trying to get back to the artist first that I am, not just the TV personality and judge ... so it’s still up in the air.”

She has not released an album since 2014. In 2015 she insisted a new record was on the way — but it has yet to emerge.

She said: “I am singing, I sing every day, so that’s hard for me to have not released music, but what’s more important for me now as an artist is what I put out, and that’s why I’ve taken a step back. I don’t want to just throw the same old stuff out there any more.”

She is also in talks about a return to the London stage. She said: “I’d love to come back, it’s just the timing, the right time and the right show and the right role, but I’m always open to any possibility I could get back on the West End because that stage is my home.”

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