Nicole Scherzinger admits she was ‘devastated’ by Cats film snub

Nicole Scherzinger has revealed that she was left “devastated” after she was unable to audition for the film adaptation of Cats.

The Pussycat Dolls star, 41, appeared as Grizabella in the musical’s 2014 West End revival, but claimed that casting directors for Tom Hooper’s forthcoming film refused to see her audition.

“That really upset me, I won’t lie about that,” she told The Guardian. “I was devastated.”

“I just wanted to be given a fair opportunity - then you can turn me down,” she added. “Turn me down to my face, at least, and they didn’t.”

The singer said that she was comforted by Cats composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s wife Madeleine over the phone, and described the couple as being “like family” to her.

Lloyd Webber previously fell out with the star after she pulled out of the Broadway run of Cats in 2016 to judge The X Factor.

“I’m furious because I really believe she’s the most fantastically talented girl and I went out on a limb to get her for the London Palladium here,” he told Economist Radio that year, adding: “But never mind, there’ll be another girl on Broadway and Nicole will not get her Tony award.”

However the pair appear to have since made up, with Lloyd Webber describing her as “one of the most talented artists I’ve ever worked with” and “a God given musical theatre actress” in a 2018 interview with Billboard.

The big screen version of Cats will star Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson as Grizebella, while ballerina Francesca Hayward will play Victoria the White Cat.

Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Ian McKellan, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo and James Corden will also star in the film, which arrives in UK cinemas on December 20.