AceShowbiz - Nicole Scherzinger rejected a lucrative TV work so she could follow her passion. The 45-year-old singer confessed that she grew up in a "dirt poor" family so shares her earnings with them today but ultimately chose to "follow her heart" and gave up a lucrative position as a judge on the US version of "The Masked Singer" so she could star in "Sunset Boulevard" in London's West End.

"Coming from nothing, my family needs me. My money is their money. But I had to follow my heart. I chose this because this is where I belong. You don't do this for money or cameras. You do this for love, the love of art - literally for art's sake," she told The Sunday Times.

"And how are people going to know the artist side of me if I don't put it out there? So it's up to me to start making those choices in my life, to put myself where I can really share my true talents."

The former "The X Factor" judge shot to fame as part of pop group The Pussycat Dolls in the early 2000s and starred in the West End production of "Cats" in 2014 but explained upon hearing the songs from "Sunset Boulevard", she connected with the leading role of Norma Desmond and felt as if the songs belonged to her.

She said, "When I listened to the music I felt those were songs I could have written, like they were my songs. This is a completely different show than the musical people know. I feel like we might as well change the name of the show because it's a completely different story we're telling."

"My Norma is not crazy. She's madly passionate about what she feels like she was put on this earth to do. She's in love with her art. And there's nothing tragic or pitiful about that."

She fixes me with a heartfelt stare. "She's wanting to be seen for who she really is. People are going to see a very different side to me, aren't they? Like they've never seen before in 45 years. I would like people to know me for the artist side of me."

"Sunset Boulevard" runs at the Savoy Theatre until January 2024.