No Angels star Vanessa Petruo breaks her silence

23 years ago they were the first band to emerge from the talent show “Popstars” and then celebrated huge success. With one hit after the other, Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahls stormed the charts as No Angels. The group broke up in 2003, only to try again four years later. In 2014 the final separation took place.

Two years ago, Germany’s most successful girl band celebrated another big comeback – but only as a foursome. Vanessa Petruo, who has been out of the public eye for years, was not there. The 43-year-old has changed her life since the band first split up – you can read here where she lives now and what she does.

“It was clear to us that Vanessa didn’t want to do it again. She built a whole new life for herself and decided a different way a long time ago,” said Nadja Benaissa in an interview with t-online. Vanessa Petruo herself, on the other hand, was silent – until now. The musician first commented on Instagram about why she wasn’t there for the comeback.

“This decision was not easy for me”

In a post on her private profile shared by a fansite and the official No Angels account, she wrote: “As some of you may know, my life has taken a different direction since the band broke up over 20 years ago It wasn’t an easy decision for me, but I never lost my passion for music. It just took on a different form – I enjoy making music privately and expressing my creative energies in other ways.”

She is very happy that the band is back together and making music and wishes her every success from the bottom of her heart, says Petruo. It is important to her “to emphasize that there is no grudge or argument between me and the others. We just grew apart and are now going different ways. I will always cherish our time together in the band and I am grateful for the wonderful memories that we created together.”

The fact that there is no bad blood between the former colleagues is also shown by their reactions. Nadja Benaissa commented on the post with three red heart emojis, and Sandy Mölling also left a “Like” heart.

No Angels comeback: That’s why Vanessa Petruo is no longer part of the band

In 2000 they started with hits like “Daylight In Your Eyes”, but it was already over in 2003 – for the time being. However, the No Angels’ big comeback in 2021 was missing a member of the original cast in Vanessa Petruo. Now the singer herself has commented on her absence.

When the No Angels celebrated their big comeback in 2021, there was no trace of one of the five band members. Vanessa Petruo had not commented on this for a long time – until now: On her private Instagram profile, the ex-singer now explained why she is no longer part of the group: “As some of you know, my life has changed since the band broke up developed in a different direction over 20 years ago.”

The decision was not easy for her, continued Petruo, “but I never lost my passion for music. It just changed into another form – I enjoy making music privately and expressing my creative energies in other ways “. It is “important to emphasize” that there is “no grudge or argument” between her and her former bandmates. “We just grew apart and are on different paths now. I will always cherish our time together in the band and I’m grateful for the wonderful memories we’ve created together.”

After the band, which was founded in 2000 as part of the “Popstars” talent show, broke up for the first time in 2003, Petruo first tried a solo career. However, the 43-year-old soon found a new calling: she studied cognitive neuroscience and even completed her doctorate in 2018. In March 2020 she accepted a position as a post-doc at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and still lives thousands of kilometers away from her former hometown Berlin.

While Petruo has turned to science, her former bandmates Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling and Jessica Wahls have been back on stage together for two years. 20 years after the release of their debut single “Daylight In Your Eyes”, the band returned to the spotlight in 2021 with new music and major TV appearances. The anniversary album “20”, which contained four new songs in addition to revised classics, reached number one in the charts.