Ashley Roberts says Kimberly Wyatt is her closest friend in the Pussycat Dolls.

The pair knew each other even before they formed girl group with Nicole Scherzinger, Jessica Sutta, Carmit Bachar and Melody Thornton and Ashley considers herself "Auntie Ashley" to Kimberly's kids.

She told OK magazine: "I think if you go through anything for a significant amount of time it's going to bond you, right? Something like the jungle ['I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!'] or 'Strictly Come Dancing' or whatever it may be, it bonds you with these people for years.

"I talk to some of the girls more than others. Kimberly and I actually were friends before we even got in the group together. So we've been friends, oh my God, for more than 20 years and gone through a lot together. She's got three kids now. I'm Auntie Ashley! We probably see each other the most and we're still really close friends. But everyone's kind of doing their own thing now, as you do when you get to adulthood."

Meanwhile, Ashley, 42, insisted she is settled in the UK and has no plans to move back to America.

She said: "Every now and then I pop back to LA, but I'm not going to be moving back there. I lived there for a significant amount of time but the UK feels so much more like home to me. It just feels more 'me'. I resonate more with the people, the culture and the lifestyle."