Chilli Of TLC Recalls The Time ‘They Were Auditioning People’ To Replace Her In The Group

What would the iconic R&B girls group TLC be without the “C”? Well, according to Chilli, there was a time when T-Boz and Left Eye were willing to find out by kicking her out of the group.

Chilli, real name Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, opened up in the new Lifetime documentary TLC Forever about the early days of the group when she joined to replace the original “C” in TLC, OG member Crystal Jones, as noted by People.

Things were going well for the revamped trio that consisted of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and Chilli. But things got dicey when Chilli ended up getting pregnant by the group’s producer, Dallas Austin.

The pair welcomed their son Tron Austin in 1997 before going their separate ways. But during their time as a couple, the group’s manager Pebbles, took issue with Chilli dating Dallas. It became so much of an issue that Chilli was almost given the boot and kicked out of the iconic group.

“They were holding auditions to replace me but never saw anybody that they liked,” Chilli recalled. “I don’t think anybody cared about the Dallas thing but Pebbles.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S_2Wkzseg8

TLC would eventually part ways with Pebbles after revealing how “broke” they were despite the two awards they won at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Her confession came after the group filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the success of their 1994 album CrazySexyCool.

TLC had accumulated massive debt due in part to their sketchy contract with LaFace and Pebbitone. Since putting the incident behind them, TLC has never shied away from putting their quarrels with Pebbles on blast.

They even included the scarred relationship in their 2013 biopic which resulted in Pebbles filing a lawsuit against them the following year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

“We’re the reason [LaFace parent company] Arista Records first got security,” Chilli said of the changes that came after filing a lawsuit against their record label.

“We kind of held Clive Davis hostage, like, ‘You’re the head guy. How do we fix this?'”

Catch the “TLC Forever” documentary when it premieres on Lifetime Sat., June 3rd at 8/7c.