'This Is My Prime'

As her lifelong dreams of Broadway come true, Nicole Scherzinger proves you can’t count out women over 40

- NIKALINE McCARLEY

Not many people can step away from one > massive hit and find another waiting in the wings. But triple threat Nicole Scherzinger managed it, sidelining her gig as a panelist on Fox's The Masked Singer in order to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in London's West End. Her theater run was nothing short of a triumph, earning her an Olivier award, the U.K. equivalent of a Tony.

Another stage success looms this fall when the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical comes across the pond to NYC. "I've been waiting 46 years to do Broadway. I've got all the feels," Scherzinger tells Us - and considering the fact that she's 46, she must have been hungry for this since the womb! She admits to anticipating butterflies for the revival but notes that "butterflies are good." (Also giving her butterflies: former Scottish rugby player Thom Evans, her fiancé since 2023.) Scherzinger sat down with Us at the Wimbledon Hill in New York event to retrace her steps.

What would little Nicole who grew up in Louisville, Ky., think about your becoming a leading lady on Broadway?