Source: Patrick McMullan / Getty
Adrienne Bailon reveals that this celebrity was initially cast as Aqua in The Cheetah Girls before the role ended up going to her then group member, Kiely Williams. Find out who would have portrayed the role inside.
Adrienne Bailon was featured on Spotify’s “We Said What We Said” podcast hosted by best friends and social media personalities, Rickey Thompson and Denzel Dion. Bailon shared that Solange was originally cast as Aqua in the Disney franchise The Cheetah Girls before the role ended up going to Kiely Williams.
“And at the time, I was told that the other girls that were chosen were Raven-Symoné as Galleria, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda myself as Chanel and Solange,” Bailon revealed on the podcast.
Rickey and Denzel were left in shock responding with, “Solange?”
To what the Cheetah Girls star affirms, saying, “As Aqua,” and nodding her heads.
The best friend podcast duo let out a few “Wow’s” and “Solange was supposed to be Aqua?”
Bailon goes on to share more about Aqua’s character, supporting Disney’s initial case to cast Solange instead of Kiely.
“You know the character is from Houston, Texas,” Bailon supports. “She has a Texas accent. She has the hot sauce.”
While Bailon didn’t detail why Solange didn’t end up playing the part, she did say how Kiely was brought into the fold.
“And at the last minute for whatever reason she ended up not doing the film,” Bailon shared of Solange’s absence. “I remember I was in dance rehearsal with 3LW and we got a phone call that said ‘is there any way that Kiely could jump in the role for Aqua?’”
The rest is history. Fans feel like they have been robbed without Solange in the film, who at the time seemed to be on an acting track. In 2004, she appeared in Johnson Family Vacation, starring Cedric the Entertainer, Bow Wow, Steve Harvey and Vanessa Williams.
The first The Cheetah Girls film came out in 2003 right before Solange’s debut in Johnson Family Vacation. We wonder what Solange’s reasoning could have been for turning down the franchise film series.
