Former Bardot member Chantelle Barry confirms she left the band after ‘stealing’ from Sophie Monk

THE reasons behind this shock Bardot decision have always been unclear. But the truth has finally been revealed.

THE rumours surrounding the unceremonious dumping of Chantelle Barry from Bardot in 2000 have haunted a certain portion of Gen Y for some time.

It wasn’t quite Geri leaving the Spice Girls — but we were enthralled nonetheless.

After the five original members — including The Bachelorette’s Sophie Monk — were drafted on the Channel Seven reality series Popstars and plonked into the girl group, Chantelle Barry was soon dropped from the line-up and replaced with Tiffany Wood.

No explanation was offered. “Family reasons” were alluded to. But there was a darker reason. Magazines at the time reported Barry had been “sacked for stealing” from her band mate Sophie Monk.

And now, 17 years later, Barry has confirmed her sinister (too dramatic?) past.

A New Idea story from 2000 alleges Barry was sacked from band for stealing from other band members.

“Sophie left her $100 weekly allowance in an envelope in my bedroom and I intended to return it on the weekend — we had plans to go to a gig together,” she told Woman’s Day magazine. “In a moment of stupidity, being a teenager and thinking that a pair of shoes was more important than the friendship I had with Sophie, I decided to keep her money for myself.”

Barry was paid $1000 by management to leave the group and stay silent on the matter. But this meant she couldn’t tell her side of the story at the time.

“I was young, naive and saw it as a way out,” she said.

Chantelle Barry in 2000.

Months after leaving the band, Barry posed for a photospread in FHM magazine and went on to act in some small roles on Water Rats, How I Met Your Mother and 90210.

In the past, Barry said she never spoke to her former bandmates after being booted. And it seems like none of them do.

Asked last year if she would ever get the band back together for a reunion, Sophie Monk said she’s not in contact with the girls.

“No, I’m not actually. Might be a bit hard. Might have to find them on Facebook,” she said on Today Extra.