Throw your hands up if you knew this major Cheetah Girls casting secret.
Adrienne Bailon-Houghton recently opened up about how different the titular girl group in the 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie nearly looked. Recalling the early days working on the film, the E! News co-anchor explained how Beyoncé's younger sister Solange Knowles was originally set to play Aquanetta "Aqua" Walker before being replaced by Kiely Williams.
"I was told that the other girls that were chosen were Raven-Symoné as Galleria, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda, myself as Chanel, and Solange Knowles as Aqua," Adrienne said on a July 11 episode of the We Said What We Said With Rickey and Denzel podcast. "The character is supposed to be from Houston, Texas. She has the Texas accent, the hot sauce."
She added, "It was supposed to be Solange, and originally she was supposed to be the cast member, and at the last minute, for whatever reason, ended up not doing the film."
Ultimately, Kiely stepped into the role, with her, Adrienne and Sabrina reprising the role for two sequel films as well as performing as the Cheetah Girls until the group disbanded in 2008.
While Solange has never spoken publicly about the matter, this is not the first time someone involved in the Cheetah Girls films has spoken about the casting change.
"They auditioned hundreds of girls for the four roles," Sabrina told the International Business Times in 2018. "Solange Knowles was there. And she was originally booked as Aqua."
But as she added, the Bring It On: All or Nothing star didn't stay in the role for long as she ultimately moved on to her own projects.
"By the time we started, it was Kiely the whole time," Sabrina noted. "That was the year Solange was getting ready to release an album. She was working on her own solo artist-type stuff, and, I think, from what I've heard, was that they were just worried that it being her first album that it was gonna be a little bit too much for her to be able to juggle everything, with filming and all that kind of stuff."
While Adrienne, Kiely and Sabrina reprised their roles in all the Cheetah Girls films, Raven-Symoné opted not to return for the third movie, The Cheetah Girls: One World, released in 2008. However, she has not ruled out participating in another Cheetah Girls project that reunited the cast.
"I would do it in a heartbeat," the That's So Raven alum told Adrienne and co-anchor Justin Sylvester on E! News in February. "We are in the era of a reboot, honey. We love a reboot."
She added, "I'm not trying to act that much anymore—I want to direct. But if there was something that we did together, it would be us and you would be surprised, it would smash."
Check out the Cheetah Girls cast, now and then:
Already a Disney Channel star when she made her debut as Galleria Garibaldi, thanks to the premiere of That's So Raven seven months earlier, Raven would only return for the film's first sequel in 2006, opting to sit of 2008's The Cheetah Girls: One World. (Her absence was explained away by Galleria's relocation to England for college.)
After That's So Raven went off the air in 2008, she went on to star in the short-lived ABC Family series State of Georgia in 2011; joined The View as an official co-host from 2015 to 2016 after frequent guest host appearances; began recurring on Black-ish in 2015 as Rhonda, sister to Anthony Anderson's Dre; and returned to Disney Channel in 2017 to executive-produce and star in the That's So Raven sequel series Raven's Home.
Already an accomplished recording artist with two albums to her name, she's since released two more solo studio albums and, most recently, a trio of EPs. After dating actress and model Az-Marie Livingston from 2012 to 2015, Raven married Miranda Maday in June 2020.
While playing Chanel Simmons wasn't the 3LW singer's acting debut—that would be a 2001 episode of the Nickelodeon series Taina—it was the breakthrough role that led to appearances in feature films (Coach Carter, I'm in Love with a Church Girl), TV films (Lovestruck: The Musical) and two more Cheetah Girls films.
After a relationship with Rob Kardashian from 2007 to 2009 led to a handful of appearances on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Adrienne went down the reality TV path, starring in 2012's Empire Girls and hosting the short-lived 2014 competition series Nail'd It. In 2013, she began her current job as co-host of The Real. She also competed in the second season of The Masked Singer in 2019, placing third as the Flamingo and is set to appear on the fifth season of Raven's Home.
After 3LW disbanded in 2007 and The Cheetah Girls parted ways in 2008, Adrienne took her time working on a solo album, eventually releasing New Tradiciones in 2017. After dating Rob, she was briefly engaged to boyfriend of six years, Roc Nation executive Lenny Santiago, in 2015. Nearly a year after calling that off, she and musician Israel Houghton announced their engagement. They were married in November 2016 and welcomed son Ever James in August 2022.
After saying goodbye to Aquanetta Walker in 2008 with the disbandment of The Cheetah Girls, Kiely made her feature film debut in Anna Faris' The House Bunny, released that same year. Since then, she's appeared in films such as Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale and Stomp the Yard: Homecoming. She's released a handful of solo singles over the years, while also co-starring in a trio of web series with fellow Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan.
In December 2016, she married Brandon "BJ" Cox with Sabrina serving as a bridesmaid. The couple welcomed daughter Rowan in March 2018 and daughter in Archer in March 2022.
Since making her breakthrough as Dorinda Thomas, Sabrina has competed on Dancing With the Stars twice—once in 2007 and again in season 15—where she was eliminated shockingly early both times despite receiving high scores from the judges. She's also released a pair of workout DVDs (Byou and Byou 2) and co-starred in a trio of web series that reunited her with Kiely Williams.
In 2008, she became an author after releasing the book Princess of Gossip with co-writer Julia DeVillers. In October 2018, she married longtime boyfriend Jordan Lundberg. The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Comillia Monroe, in September 2020, and son Ledger Gray in May 2023.
After playing Galleria's mother Dorothea in The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2, the Emmy and NAACP Image Award-winning actress went on to appear in several films, including Madea's Family Reunion and The Women, as well as TV shows like How to Get Away With Murder, Mistresses and The Resident. Since 2016, she's starred on the OWN original series Greenleaf, which wrapped its five-season run on Aug. 11, 2020.
Since playing Chanel's mother Juanita Simmons in both The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2, Lori has appeared in the horror film House at the End of the Street while popping up on Canadian series like Degrassi: The Next Generation, Kenny vs. Spenny, Being Erica and Private Eyes. After marrying William Laurin days before The Cheetah Girls' premiere, she's welcomed two children whose names have not been made public.
After playing villainous record producer Jackal Johnson, the Canadian actor made guest appearances on shows like 24, NYPD Blue, Entourage and CSI, while also lending his voice to animated series Braceface and several video games.
Since playing Galleria's love interest Derek, Kyle has appeared in films like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Covenant; TV films like Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life and Patsy & Loretta; and TV shows like CSI: Miami and Arrow. Outside of guest appearances, he's starred on the TV shows Copper, Six, and The I-Land.
Post film, Ennis starred in shows like The Listener, Red Oaks, and Blindspot, while recurring on Dark Matter, Private Eyes and Schitt's Creek. He's also appeared in the films Welcome to Mooseport, The Rocker and Clara.
Following her role as Dorinda's foster mother Mrs. Bosco, Kim appeared in films like Dawn of the Dead, Saw III, Saw IV, and Carrie; and TV shows including Suits, Schitt's Creek and The Handmaid's Tale.
Since playing the delightfully named Drinka Champagne, Sandra has appeared in the films Shall We Dance and Ben Is Back, as well as TV shows like Wonderfalls, Law & Order: SVU, and Murdoch Mysteries. In 2017, while playing transgender character Mama Darleena Andrews in the play Charm, Sandra revealed that she was transgender herself. In the 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure, she discussed undergoing gender-affirming surgery in her early 20s and keeping it private for nearly 40 years.
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