Adrienne Bailon-Houghton Says Solange Was Originally Set To Star In “The Cheetah Girls”, But Dropped Out, Leaving The Role To Kiely Williams

Adrienne Bailon, Raven Symone, Sabrina Bryan, Keily Williams, Solange Knowles

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton Says Solange Was Originally Cast In “The Cheetah Girls”, But Dropped Out, Leaving The Role To Kiely Williams

One classic Disney movie reportedly almost looked much different!

According to actress Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, the renowned “Cheetah Girls” movie, which she starred in alongside Raven Symoné, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams was originally supposed to star Solange Knowles as Aqua before she opted out of the project.

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton opened up about the casting change during a recent podcast interview. While discussing her own relationship to the famed 2003 film, the 39-year-old shared that when she got the role of “Chanel”, she was given a different lineup of cast-mates from what actually made it to the movie. She explained:

“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…as Aqua,”

Much to the interviewers surprise, she continued:

“You know the character is supposed to be from Houston, Texas. She has a Texas accent, the hot sauce…It was supposed to be Solange…and originally she was supposed to be the cast member and at the last minute, for whatever reason, ended up not doing the film and I remember I was in dance rehearsal with 3LW and we got a phone call that said like ‘is there was any way that Kiely could jump into the role for Aqua?'”

While this seems to be the first time anyone is hearing the story, Adrienne’s claims certainly line up with Solange’s career path at the time. The then budding entertainer went on to star as a teenager of the same age in other big budget films such as “Johnson’s Family Vacation” in 2004 and “Bring It On: All Or Nothing” in 2006. However, the famed Knowles sister quickly shifted her interests in the industry, trading in acting to follow sister Beyonce’s footsteps of becoming a full blown music artist. In 2008, Solange dropped her second album titled Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams before embarking on an eight year hiatus.

Her critically acclaimed project “A Seat At The Table”, released in 2016, premiered hit songs such as “Cranes In The Sky” and “Don’t Touch My Hair”. The record went on to be nominated for several album of the year awards and reportedly became Solange’s first #1 on the Billboard top 200 albums chart. As for her alleged departure from the “The Cheetah Girls”, as Adrienne stated the role eventually went to Kiely Williams, which is debatable as being for better or worse. While the movie went on to amass worldwide success, and was eventually green-lit for two subsequent movies, there seems to be continuous tales of drama that surround Kiely whenever she’s working with other artists.

As you may know, Kiely was 1/3 of the singing group 3LW which also featured Adrienne and singer/actress Naturi Naughton. The “Power” star has been very vocal about her issues with Adrienne and especially Kiely, accusing her band members of not being supportive and isolating her when she experienced colorism while recording and touring together. Adrienne and Naturi have since gone on to heal their relationship, sharing their journey online, while it seems Kiely was determined to cast Naturi as nothing more than a “bitter” person playing victim.

Likewise, Raven Symoné has also spoken up about her issues with Kiely. The “Raven’s Home” star alluded to drama on the set being one reason she opted out of the third “Cheetah Girls” movie, and has repeatedly stated her relationship with Adrienne is the only reason she’d consider a “growl power” reunion. Back in 2020, however, Kiely and Raven went live, attempting to put whatever beef they had aside.

All in all, “The Cheetah Girls’ went down in history as an iconic movie for the Disney network, despite casting shake-ups and on set drama.

Could you imagine Solange playing the role of Aqua in the film? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!