A Field Guide to Ashley Roberts

There are many things to love about the summer, but if we had to pick a favorite, it'd be the uptick in women who shed their tops in public. Yes, here in the northern hemisphere it has officially become topless sunbathing season – which, as of yesterday, officially became "ogle Ashley Roberts's boobs" season.

We're no strangers to ogling Ashley Roberts – why, just last year we offered appreciation for her possibly pantyless upskirt, and long before that we enjoyed her scantily clad dancing during her stint as a Pussycat Doll – but as she finally unveiled her breasts for an adoring public, we found ourselves seized by the urge to learn much more about her (also by a few other urges, but we'll leave you to figure those ones out). So, without further ado, let's dig in and discover a little bit more about what makes this woman tick.

Ashley Roberts was born September 14, 1981, in Phoenix, Arizona. Her artistic promise showed itself at a young age: by the tender age of three she was already dancing, with singing lessons following just five years later. Not that this was a surprise to anyone in the family – the daughter of a former drummer for The Mamas & The Papas, Roberts pursued a career in entertainment partly to follow in her father's footsteps (though we'd offer that her success has far eclipsed his).

Roberts's career kicked off early, getting cast in commercials and music videos while she was still in her teens. If you've ever had the nagging feeling that the Pussycat Dolls wasn't the first place you saw her, you might not be crazy: some of Roberts earliest credits include videos for Aaron Carter's "Oh Aaron," Pink's "Trouble," and Jane's Addiction's "True Nature" (as well as quite a few commercials, though we've had a harder time tracking the names of those down).

But, of course, it was the Pussycat Dolls that really launched Roberts to national attention. A mid-90s burlesque troupe that rebranded as a music franchise in the early aughts, the Pussycat Dolls were a singing, dancing, girl group dripping with sex appeal, with Roberts one of six stunning babes appearing in the line up (the others being Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, Carmit Bachar,Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt). You may remember a few of the groups hits: their first single "Don't Cha" was a huge success, as was the Grammy winning "Stickwitu" (which Roberts sang co-lead on). 

Yet all the sexy singing and dancing belied some strife below the surface. Many of the Pussycat Dolls felt that Nicole Scherzinger was getting an undeserved amount of attention, and after a few years of infighting, things began to fall apart. Roberts announced her departure in 2010, telling fans through her website that she'd be leaving the group to pursue a solo career. As she says on her website:

I didn’t want to end up in a shiny dance-pop box... I like a broad spectrum of music. My dad was a drummer [in the Mamas & Papas], so I grew up with rock, folk, all sorts of sounds. I love hip hop, funk, anything I can groove to. I wanted different songs on the album to reflect different parts of my personality.

Roberts released her first solo song (a cover of "A Summer Place") shortly after leaving the Pussycat Dolls, earlier this summer, she announced that her debut album, Butterfly Effect, is scheduled to drop on September 1. Some of you may be wondering what Roberts has been up to in the four years between those release dates. While we're sure quite a bit of that time was devoted to recording (that takes time, guys!), she's also spent it expanding her resume in other respects, in particular the British reality TV arena. Some of you may have seen on ITV's "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" (she was a runner up!), she also garnered a place on the ice panel for the channel's "Dancing on Ice" series. These appearances have done quite a bit to expand Roberts's fan base, as have the occasional public exposures we've mentioned before.

Speaking of which: while there's no indication that Roberts's solo career will include the same level of sexiness that her time with the Pussycat Dolls included, her recent topless excursion made it pretty clear she's not opposed to getting naked. Clearly, we're hoping that the future holds even more nudity for Roberts, and given that she's Garnier's self tan spokesmodel and the face of Ambre Solaire No Streak Bronzer campaign, we think that frequent public exposures are totally on brand. After all, what better way is there to show off your streakless tan than by, ahem, showing off your streakless tan? (Confidential to the Garnier marketing team: we've got tons of these ideas, give us a call.)

We may not know what the future holds for Ashley Roberts, but we do know that we'll be paying close attention to her career. And that the the next time we need a sunbathing buddy, we are definitely giving her a call.