It's Official! The Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger to Star as 'Grizabella' in London Revival of CATS!

It's Official! It's been rumored for months; news leaked out last night in London; and BroadwayWorld.com has now confirmed online reports that Nicole Scherzinger will join the London revival of CATS as 'Grizabella.' Andrew Lloyd Webber announced the news himself tonight, during the recording of Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

In the musical, she'll of course sing 'Memory'--scroll down for video of the star in 2013 taking on another Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' from EVITA. We're also told that if all goes well, a return to Broadway could be next for the show, which last played 7,485 performances from 1982 to 2000.

Earlier this summer, The Daily Mail first reported that The Pussycat Dolls' lead vocalist Nicole Scherzinger was in early negotiations to star as 'Grizabella' in the upcoming CATS revival at the London Palladium this winter.

"It's a lovely idea, and Nicole would be perfect for Grizabella," an executive involved with the project told the Mail. "...there's desire on both sides for this to work."

The paper reported at the time that Andrew Lloyd Webber is allegedly "very much interested in working with her", especially after Scherzinger's recent birthday tribute performance to the composer.

Lloyd Webber's record-breaking musical CATS, based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, returns to the West End for a strictly limited 12 week run at the London Palladium from 6 December 2014.

The original creative team -- Director Trevor Nunn, Associate Director and Choreographer Gillian Lynne, Designer John Napier and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber -- are reunited to bring CATS back to the West End this Christmas. In addition, Lloyd Webber is re-writing the music for two of T. S. Eliot's iconic poems.

In CATS, on just one special night of the year, all Jellicle Cats meet at the Jellicle Ball where Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, makes the Jellicle choice and announces which of them will go up to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.

CATS, one of the longest-running shows in West End and on Broadway, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for eighteen years.

Since its world premiere, CATS has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 10 languages and has been seen by over 50 million people world-wide. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album. The classic Lloyd Webber score includes "Memory" which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.

Scherzinger would be tasked with belting out the iconic song. Scherzinger and The Pussycat Dolls released their debut album PCD in 2005 and saw several years of top hits, including the singles "Don't Cha" and "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)". After the group broke up, Scherzinger went on to pursue a solo career and released her album Killer Love in 2011. She was a judge on the first season of the American version of The X Factor that same year, then went on to judge for the UK version for the next two years. Scherzinger just released a new single "Your Love" and her new album will be out this fall.

Photo Credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex / Rex USA