Nicole Scherzinger says Prince hid in bush trying to get her attention

Nothing compares 2 the inimitable Prince trying to capture someone’s attention while lurking in a bush.

In between bites of sauce-doused wings on the latest Hot Ones, Nicole Scherzinger dished on her most cherished memory of the late musician — and it involved exactly that.

“He’s got his show in Vegas, and I’m bringing my girlfriends, and we’re super excited to see the show and to see him perform and support him,” Scherzinger recalled to host Sean Evans. “We’re out by this pool at this hotel. Me and my girlfriends are like, ‘This is awesome! The sun is shining, we get to see Prince tonight in concert — it’s gonna be magical.'”

“And me and my friends are talking and then we hear a psst, psst!” she continued. “And we see this bush kind of moving. We hear psst, psst!’ And I’ll be damned, Prince was hiding behind the bush trying to get my attention. I don’t know why!”

Scherzinger remembered the music superstar, whom she has called a mentor and good friend, looking fabulous in “full shoulder pads.”

She continued, “It was like noon. Fully dressed, looked amazing. Just Prince-ing it up, heels and all.”

The former Pussycat Doll and new Broadway darling told Evans that she would not be where she is career-wise if not for the Purple One, recalling the message he relayed to her after he went to see her production of the 2014 West End revival of Cats.

“I wouldn’t be here, Sean, without him,” the recent Tony winner recounted. “He actually came to see me in Cats and he was like, ‘You are an analog singer — you’re not a digital singer. Your voice is too big, and you need to do music that’s big enough for your voice. And this is your stage, Nicole.'”

Scherzinger, who rose to prominence as the frontwoman of the girl group the Pussycat Dolls, made her Broadway debut playing Norma Desmond in the acclaimed 2024 revival of Sunset Boulevard, a portrayal that scored the singer her first Tony this summer when she snagged the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

She has spoken about her close friendship with Prince, who died in April 2016 at the age of 57 from an accidental overdose, in the past. Scherzinger penned a lengthy tribute to the musician following his death, remembering him as the “most phenomenal human I’ve ever been blessed to know.”

“One cannot put into words the godly talent, power, and magic he possessed — both on and off the stage,” she wrote at the time. “The world will remember him as the legendary musician, humanitarian, and activist who united people through the universal language of music. But I will remember him as my dear friend, a brother, mentor, and my inspiration … Though you are no longer with us, your legacy remains forever.”