The Truth Unveiled: Sophie Monk Speaks Up about Bardot’s Ultimate Split, Defending Herself Against Belinda Chapple’s Accusations

Sophie Monk has finally spoken up about the breakdown of early noughties pop sensation Bardot, after more than 20 years of silence.

The Love Island host, 43, has shouldered the blame of the girl group’s split after former bandmate Belinda Chapple released her memoir The Girl in the Band.

In the book, the creative director, 48, said Bardot broke up because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career – a claim she has vehemently denied.

‘What happened was, there were five of us and Katie (Underwood) said, “I would like to leave the band,”‘ Sophie told News.com.au on Saturday. 

‘As she said that, I went, “I’d like to leave too.” And [David] said, “No, you can’t leave because then we’ve only got three and we need you to stay for one more year.”‘ 

Sophie Monk, 43, (pictured) has finally spoken up about the breakdown of early noughties pop sensation Bardot, after more than 20 years of silence

Sophie went on to say she reluctantly agreed to stay with Bardot for one more year and do another album while Katie left to pursue other offers in 2001. 

The television presenter also touched on the band’s dissolution a year later and the rumours that she caused it in her pursuit of a solo career.

Sophie denied she was the sole reason, stating: ‘I finished [Bardot] and was looking for a job. I did not know they were going to ask me for a solo album at all.’ 

The Love Island host has shouldered the blame of the girl group’s split recently after former bandmate Belinda Chapple, 48, (pictured) released her memoir The Girl in the Band

However, former bandmate Belinda painted an entirely different image of the incident in her memoir.

Belinda said she, Sophie, Katie, Sally Polihronas, and Tiffani Wood were all close in the beginning with ‘lots of mucking around’.

But things quickly changed amid the group of friends when they shot to fame on Popstars as ‘Australia’s answer to the Spice Girls’.

In the book, the creative director said Bardot (pictured) broke up because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career – a claim she has vehemently denied 

Belinda said Sophie became ‘distant’ and started to ‘carve off’ from the other women as she landed her own photo shoots and ‘got the best outfits in film clips’.

Meanwhile, the band’s former manager David claimed Bardot split following an ‘explosive’ backstage bust-up before their Mardi Gras performance in 2002.

The manager told News.com.au in 2020 that things became ‘adversarial’.

Bardot was the biggest girl band in Australia after forming on Popstars back in 1999, and despite having success with hit singles such as Poison, the group fell apart after just a few years and disbanded in early 2002.

Sophie denied Bardot broke up to give her a solo career, stating: ‘I finished [Bardot] and was looking for a job. I did not know they were going to ask me for a solo album at all’