ITVThe Pussycat Dolls wasted no time going back to their roots after announcing their reunion last week, showcasing their talent on X Factor: Celebrity just days afterwards.
Nearly a decade after announcing their split, Ashley Roberts, Nicole Scherzinger, Carmit Bachar, Jessica Sutta, and Kimberly Wyatt took to the stage for the first time on Saturday night (November 30).
The performance saw the five women – headed up by X Factor judge Nicole – sing a medley of their greatest hits along with a preview of their new song React.
You can watch their performance in full here:
However, before the group had even finished singing, viewers were quick to complain about their performance – deeming it ‘inappropriate’ and ‘disgraceful’ and calling for Ofcom to do something about it.
Comparing it to a ‘trashy strip show’, 419 people complained to the broadcasting watchdog regarding the band’s routine, which puts it on course to be one of the most complained-about TV moments of the year.
Of course, the complainants weren’t focusing on the group’s singing or talents, instead focusing solely on the outfits worn by the women, which ranged from PVC bodysuits to sheer leggings and covered up all of their private parts.
While one person wrote: ‘Highly inappropriate content for this time of the evening. Pussycat dolls look like they belong in a strip club, not for prime time family viewing,’ another urged Nicole to ‘remember kids watch this’, criticising her for being ‘so sexually provocative and flaunting sex’ on prime time TV.
Please remember kids watch this, being so sexually provocative and flaunting sex on prime time tv isn’t so great 😳
— Rebecca Frances (@rebeccaa100) December 1, 2019
Another urged The Pussycat Dolls to ‘put some clothes on and grow up’, labelling the performance as ‘disgusting, disrespectful and shameful’. They added: ‘X-Factor is a family show and I enjoy it with my seven-year-old daughter who was shocked and disgusted as was I.’
Nicole, 41, didn’t seem to mind though, acknowledging the stir the band had caused later in the evening by sharing a clip of the song alongside the caption: ‘Wasn’t expecting that… were you,’ followed by a winking emoji.
The criticism faced by the Dolls is reminiscent of that faced by Little Mix over the years, with the girl group branded time and time again as ‘prostitutes’ and ‘strippers’ – not because of their music or anything vaguely related to their talent, but because of their fashion choices.
Piers Morgan even accused them of ‘using sex to sell records‘, entirely missing the point of their Strip music video, which saw the girl group briefly posing naked (with everything covered up) to emphasise the judgements they have faced throughout their careers.
So it’s ironic – and very unsurprising – that Piers would then go and judge Perrie, Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Jade in the exact same way they were calling out in the first place.
I have to wonder if there would be the same outrage if a group of men did a similar performance, or if that would be different somehow… God forbid a group of strong, powerful, talented women choose to dress how they like, but there you go.
The Pussycat Dolls will kick off their upcoming tour in April 2020.
You go, girls.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).