Ashley Roberts' body reached "the point of shutdown" during her gruelling stint in Pussycat Dolls

In an interview with The Times to promote her new book Breathwork: Techniques for Better Mental, Emotional and Physical Health, she recalled: "I remember being on stage in New York with the crowd singing back the lyrics and thinking, 'Oh, this is really happening.' It was a fast, extreme rocket ship."

She continued: "There were no discussions around, 'How is your mental health?' It was a different era. Now, artists are coming forward to talk about their struggles and concerts are rejigged. I remember once we were in three countries in one day. Eventually, my body just got to the point of shutdown. I was really, really sick."

One time she was admitted to the hospital, Ashley asked the medical team for a quick fix so she could still catch a flight to perform.

She recounted: "I remember saying [in the hospital], 'I need to get on a flight to Germany. I've got a show to do. You gotta give me something.' That was the mentality.

"I was having extreme headaches, being sick. They found viral arthritis in my knee. I couldn't do anything really. But that was my drive. And then when I finally got out of the Dolls [in 2010], I had eczema all over my legs, shingles across my face and a stomach ulcer. An acupuncturist told me then, 'If you don't scream, your body's gonna scream for you.'"

Ashley admits her own "drive" and competitive nature as a dancer teamed with the fear that she could be replaced at any given time, put her under an immense amount of pressure.

She went on: "It was a manifestation of 'go, go, go' for years or 'grind, grind, grind', an accumulation of being on the road at a time when nobody really spoke up about anything. There was also this feeling that we could be replaced in some way. But also there was my own drive, growing up as a dance competitor. So it was a combination of the two."

The Don't Cha hitmakers split in 2010, amid a tumultuous time and the departures of Ashley and Kimberly Wyatt.

The group reunited briefly in 2019 (without Melody Thornton) and planned a tour, but it was scrapped in 2022, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and legal disputes.