Williams talked to ET about reuniting with her former girl groups and making new music with 8 other former girl group members on BET.
Kiely Williams is opening up about all things girl groups. Williams, who has been working with eight other former girl group members to form the next R&B supergroup on BET Presents The Encore, talked to ET's Deidre Behar about the possibility of reuniting with her 3LW and Cheetah Girls group members, and what it's been like trying to create a new girl group on the BET series.
"Cheetah Girls is probably the avenue that it would be just because regardless of past history, everyone is so professional. There is a healthy amount of ego there, but I really think that we all approach the Cheetah Girls from a really professional standpoint," Williams said of a potential Cheetah Girls reboot, which she added is more likely than reconciling with her former 3LW bandmates.
She continued, "Participating in the Cheetah Girls felt good because you were inspiring young women, you got to see 6-year-old kids and their eyes light up. It was just such a fulfilling experience."
While Williams told ET she no longer speaks to her former 3LW and Cheetah Girls bandmate, Adrienne Bailon Houghton, she thinks the Cheetah sisters wouldn't be able to pass up the opportunity to make music magic together again.
"I can't see all the women saying no to that, just because of how good I know it made all of us feel, so you never know," she shared.
Making music with the most memorable solo female artists and groups from the 1990s and 2000s hasn't been as easy. On BET Presents The Encore, Williams teams up with Nivea, Aubrey O'Day (Danity Kane), Shamari DeVoe (Blaque), Irish Grinstead and LeMisha Grinstead (702), Felisha King (Cherish) and Fallon King and Pamela Long (Total), to form the ultimate girl group. While Williams said she was tempted to quit the show, she was initially drawn to the project to help break the stigma that girl groups can't stay together.
"The original attraction to the project was how much I hate the stigma that girl groups can't stay together. And even though I'm pretty negative about the probability of girl groups staying together, I still have this, 'If I can only find the right formula.' It's this puzzle that I want to solve in my mind. 'If I can only just figure out the right personality types, the right circumstance. What could make it work?,'" Williams explained.
"Women can work together in every other industry in the world, and it just seems like girl groups, it's like something always happens and there's drama and infighting and all that stuff, and I just wanted to dispel that myth, because I don't believe it's true. I really do think that if women come together working towards a common goal, we can do absolutely anything," she added.
While Williams didn't want to give too much away about the drama on the series, she shared that despite all the ups and downs, she woke up each day in that house committed to trying her best.
"There were a lot of moments where I felt, 'Why the hell am I doing...Why am I here? I could be home. I could be with my baby. I could be living my very happy life in relative obscurity. I don't need this,'" Williams revealed. "And I think, everybody kind of has those moments and that's when you know that you're changing. That's when you know that something great's about to happen, is when you feel like your back's up against a wall."
Adding, "When you feel like you can't do anymore, that's when you just wake up one more day and try again. And I think I did that for 30 days. For 30 days, I pretty much, no matter what happened the night before, woke up the next morning and tried again, try harder."
See Williams on BET Presents The Encore, airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on BET and BET Her.
RELATED CONTENT
