Cheetah Girls alum Adrienne Bailon has left fans flabbergasted after she revealed that Solange Knowles was originally cast in the films.
The Noughties musical film trilogy – The Cheetah Girls (2003), Cheetah Girls 2 (2006) and Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) – starred Bailon, Raven-Symoné, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams as a fictional four-piece pop group on their journey to fame and fortune.
While it may be near impossible to imagine the Cheetah Sisters played by any other actors, former The Real co-host Bailon has now disclosed that Knowles was initially chosen in place of Williams.
“I got the role and at the time, I was told that that the other girls that were chosen were Raven-Symoné as Galleria, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda, myself as Chanel, and Solange as Aqua,” Bailon said on the We Said What We Said With Rickey and Denzel podcast.
Bailon explained that the character of Aqua was originally “supposed to be from Houston, Texas” with “the Texas accent”.
Aqua was “supposed to be Solange”, Bailon, 39, explained, before the Houston-born singer dropped out “at the last minute… for whatever reason”.
“I was in dance rehearsal with [girl group] 3LW and we got a phone call that said, ‘Is there any way that Kiely could jump into the role for Aqua?’” Bailon recalled.
Not only did the actor’s little-known fact shock the podcast hosts, but several fans shared their astonishment on Instagram as well.
“The way I just dropped this phone. That’s insane,” one person commented.
“My jaw is on the floor!!” a second wrote, boldly claiming: “This would’ve changed pop culture history!!”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
“Damn what kind of Multiverse of madness is this???????” a third joked.
Some expressed disappointment by the casting change, saying that “Solange would’ve been perfect”.
While others said they were “glad it wasn’t Solange”. “Cheetah Girls was huge, but I don’t think it would’ve fit her brand,” one argued.
It’s rumoured that Knowles, the younger sister of superstar Beyoncé, 41, pulled out of the film so that she could finish her debut album Solo Star, which was released in December 2002, months after the movie was filmed.
