Inside Nicole Scherzinger’s rocky road to romance… sad reason behind Lewis Hamilton split to casual dates with pop icon
SHE'S the front-woman of one of the sexiest bands in the world, while he's a hunky Scottish rugby player.
And yesterday it was announced that after four years of dating, Nicole Scherzinger and Thom Evans are engaged.
The stunning couple broke the news on their respective Instagram pages, sharing adorable snaps of the romantic beach proposal.
Nicole, 44, and Thom, 38, who previously dated model Kelly Brook, met on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, when he competed as a contestant and she was a judge.
It seems Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole has finally found her "happy ever after", following a string of high profile romances and a failed engagement.
Here we look back at her rocky road to romance - including an eight-year relationship with Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton and an alleged fling with Mariah Carey's ex.
Early romance
When Pussycat Dolls burst into the mainstream with their debut album PCD, Nicole was fresh from her break-up from Nick Hexum.
She'd split from the lead singer of the alternative rock band 311 a year earlier. He reportedly refused to let her join The Black Eyed Peas.
They'd dated for four years and even got engaged, but went their separate ways in 2004.
Nick went on to marry his wife Nikki, and they have three kids.
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The success of The Pussycat Dolls alongside their raunchy music videos and dance moves transformed Nicole into a sex symbol with millions of adoring male fans.
One of them was Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, 38, who wooed her after they met at the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich.
During their eight-year romance the couple were seen attending glitzy award dos and going on lavish holidays.
But it wasn't a smooth ride, as according to reports, they split up on at least three different occasions until they finally called it quits in 2015.
During one of their brief splits in 2013, Nicole cried on The X Factor and said: "I am not a robot and I wear my heart on my sleeve. At the end of the day, I want to be a professional and make it about the contestants and not about me."
While on a break that year it was reported Nicole briefly dated former One Direction star Harry Styles.
At the time, a source told The Sun: "They had a dalliance at the end of the X Factor in 2013 and met up again early last year.
"Harry was obviously very taken by Nicole who is stunning and he had always looked up to her."
Lewis and Nicole reportedly split for good due to his reluctance to get married - however Lewis hinted their busy schedules and him being away "for crazy amounts of time" was behind it.
Nicole was then rumoured to have got close to pop star Ed Sheeran, 32, with reports claiming he won her heart with orange squash and Pizza Express dates.
The gossip intensified when she posted a snap of them backstage together at one of his concerts in North London.
But Nicole shut down the rumours saying: "It had been going on for so long and Ed and I are good mates, so we decided to just have fun and take the mick."
Footballer romance and 'flings'
Months after her breakup with Lewis, Nicole was seen in a steamy clinch with Swiss footballer and former Fulham midfielder Pajtim Kasami, 31.
The snaps were taken in Mykonos in June 2015, where the pair went to celebrate her 37th birthday.
Despite their break-up, Lewis had posted a gushing message to her on Instagram, thanking her for "the time" they had together.
Nicole and Patjim's romance was short-lived, however. They split up just two months after their romance went public.
In 2014 American rapper and TV host Nick Cannon, who famously married pop legend Mariah Carey, claimed he had bedded Nicole.
When asked to name famous women he had slept with, Nick answered: "Christina Milian, Nicole Scherzinger, Selita Ebanks, and Kim Kardashian."
Nicole kept a dignified silence and has never spoken about their alleged fling.
At the start of 2015, reports surfaced that Nicole had found love again with Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, 32.
The two were photographed together on numerous occasions including enjoying a raunchy shower while on holiday in St Tropez and going on shopping sprees.
Grigor once talked about how Nicole had been there for him following his devastating break-up from fellow tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, which affected his career.
But after three years of dating, the pair called time on their relationship in early 2019 - their busy schedules and time spent apart were said to have contributed to the split.
'Healthy strong foundation'
Nicole confirmed that she was in a new relationship in January 2020 - this time with rugby hunk Thom Evans.
Thom was in a group on The X Factor: Celebrity alongside fellow rugby players Ben Foden and Levi Davis, who has since gone missing.
He previously admitted it "wasn’t even in my thought process" to try it on with judge Nicole because "it would have been unprofessional".
Smitten Thom, whose rugby career ended at the age of 24 after a serious neck injury, added: "She’s so lovely and stunning in every possible way. I was just like, 'She’s out of my league'."
He previously told The Sun: "People always say, ‘When you know, you know’ and I can honestly say I’d never really had that moment.
"But within the first couple of days with Nicole, it was just awesome and it has been awesome ever since."
Reflecting on her relationship with Thom in 2021, Nicole said: "I’ve definitely been through my fair share of insecurities that I’ve fought through and battled, and I’ve gone through challenges and relationships — and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger."
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She added: "Now I have a new perspective and things balance out. And I’m really grateful to [in lockdown] build a healthy, strong, solid foundation to my relationship."
The engaged couple - who went on a whopping 13 holidays abroad last year - will now be planning their big day, and judging by their Instagram snaps, we wouldn't rule out a beach wedding...
