Bardot is an Australian pop girl group which formed in 1999, consisting of Belinda Chapple, Sally Polihronas, Katie Underwood, Tiffani Wood, and formerly Sophie Monk. The group formed on the Australian reality television series Popstars, which attracted high ratings and significant media exposure. This resulted in the instant success of Bardot's debut single "Poison" and debut album Bardot (2000), both of which entered the Australian and New Zealand charts at number 1. before parting ways in early 2002. In 2021, the compilation Greatest Hits was released to mark the group's 20 year anniversary
History
1999–2000: Popstars and debut album success
Bardot formed on the Seven Network's first series of Popstars, a talent reality television show which sought to produce a five-piece girl group. The Australian series was only second to the New Zealand version which produced the group True Bliss. The act would be sponsored by the Austereo radio network, New Idea magazine and signed to Warner Music. In 1999, over 2,500 hopefuls turned up to auditions around the country, judged by radio presenter Jackie O, music executive Chris Moss, and Grant Thomas Management manager Michael Napthali, who would manage the group's career. Shortly after the group's formation, controversy occurred when Barry departed the group with no explanation. During interviews years later, Barry clarified that she was forced to leave after taking Monk's weekly $100 money allowance, and forgetting to give it back to her. Polihronas would later state she felt Barry was "exploited" by the show and made out to be "the villain". The series was nominated for "Most Popular Reality Program" at the 2001 Logie Awards. The success of Popstars led to widespread national media coverage and the group's instore signings attracted thousands of fans, translating into instant record sales success.
Bardot's debut single "Poison" entered the Australian singles chart at number 1, selling over 60,000 copies in its first week. It gained double platinum status, remaining in the top spot for two consecutive weeks. Their self-titled debut album also entered the charts at number 1, with Bardot setting a record by becoming the first Australian act to debut at number 1 with both its debut single and debut album. The album would go on to sell over double platinum copies and was the 20th highest selling album in Australia for 2000. Bardot repeated the same results with its debut single and album in New Zealand, where "Poison" spent three consecutive weeks at number 1.
Second single "I Should've Never Let You Go" peaked at number 14 in Australia. During this time, Bardot made a promotional trip to Singapore and other parts of south-east Asia, where the group had attracted a large fanbase. The album reached number 2 in Singapore while "I Should've Never Let You Go" reached number 1. In August 2000, Bardot embarked on its first national concert tour of Australia The group performed "These Days" at the 2000 ARIA Music Awards where they were nominated for Highest Selling Single, Highest Selling Album and Best Video.
2001–2002: Departure of Underwood and Play It Like That
In March 2001, Bardot relocated to the United Kingdom to release "Poison" and begin work on their second album. Despite a significant promotional push including appearances on SMTV Live, Nickelodeon and Pepsi Chart, the single was only a limited success, peaking at number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. While preparing the release of "ASAP", the first single from their second album, Underwood decided to leave Bardot in pursuit of a role in the musical Hair. Ultimately the production was cancelled before it commenced due to financial pressures and shortly after, Underwood would go on to collaborate with dance act Disco Montego. "ASAP" launched Bardot as a four-piece in July 2001 and reached number 5 in Australia, becoming their fourth gold single. and in October, released the second single from their second album, "I Need Somebody". The single gained a positive reception from critics with comparisons to the dance-pop music of Kylie Minogue being made. It confirmed the group's staying power, peaking in the Australian top 5 and becoming Bardot's highest charting debut since "Poison". In November 2001, Bardot released their second album, Play It Like That, which featured co-writes by all members and received favourable reviews from critics. The album debuted at number 16 on the Australian album charts and was certified gold, To support the album's launch, Bardot performed at Austereo's Rumba music festivals in Melbourne and Sydney, each attended by 40,000 spectators. In March they embarked on their second national tour with Australian boy band Human Nature In April, Bardot performed at the International Indian Film Academy Awards in Malaysia, followed by a promotional tour of India. Rumours circulated that the split was a result of Monk's desire to begin a solo career, though she denied this. Soon after Bardot's split, Wood confirmed that at the time, both she and Chapple were the two members keen to continue as Bardot.
All members, apart from Polihronas, went on to release solo music before forging careers in different fields. Solo singles that charted in the Australian top 50 were Underwood's "Danger" (2004) and collaboration singles "Beautiful" (2002), "Magic" (2002) and "Be Together" (2006), Monk's "Inside Outside" (2002), "Get the Music On" (2003) and "One Breath Away" (2003), Wood's "What R U Waiting 4" (2004), and Chappel's "Move Together" (2005). Monk is the only member to have achieved a charting solo album with Calendar Girl (2003). In April 2004, Bardot's original management team Grant Thomas Management sued the Popstars producer Screentime and its joint venture company Five Divas, for breach of contract and loss of earnings. In November 2000, Bardot sacked Grant Thomas Management midway through a three-year contract because according to Screentime, Bardot had "lost all confidence". Grant Thomas were successfully awarded $129,561. In 2009, Wood and Underwood professionally reunited for the stage musical Valentino, based on the life of Rudolph Valentino. In 2019, after years of being commercially unavailable, both of Bardot's albums were added to streaming services.
2020–present: 20th anniversary celebrations, Greatest Hits and reunion
In April 2020, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their debut single "Poison", Wood, Underwood and Chapple reunited remotely online to perform the song. Barry would also release her own version of "Poison" later that year. and a further compilation containing remixes, b-sides and the previously unreleased track, "Something Worth Fighting For", was released digitally in April 2021. and in July 2021, an EP of new remixes was released. In 2023 Chapple published a memoir outlining her time in Bardot called The Girl in the Band.
On 4 February 2026, it was announced that Bardot would reunite without Monk, for a performance at the Mighty Hoopla music festival in Sydney later that month, to celebrate their 25 year anniversary.
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! scope="row"| Play It Like That
|
- Released: 12 November 2001
- Label: Warner
- Format: CD
|align="center"| 16
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="left"|
- ARIA: Gold
|-
|align="center" colspan="7" style="font-size: 85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
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Compilations
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of compilations, with selected details and chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak positions
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! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;"| Australian Independent Record Labels Association|<br />
|-
! scope="row"| Greatest Hits
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- Released: 30 January 2021
- Label: Bardot
- Format: Digital download, streaming
| 5
|}
Extended plays
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of extended plays, with selected details and chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| EP details
! scope="col" colspan="2"| Peak positions
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! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;"| Australian Independent Record Labels Association|<br />
! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;"| Australian Independent Record Labels Association|<br />
|-
! scope="row"| 2021 Mixes
|
- Released: 23 July 2021
- Label: Bardot
- Format: Digital download, streaming
| 1 || 6
|}
Singles
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications
!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title
!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
!scope="col" colspan="4" | Peak positions
!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Certifications<br />
!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album
|-
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!width="30"|<br/>
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