- It’s been 17 years since “The Cheetah Girls” first aired on the Disney Channel.
- The movie helped launch the careers of the four women who made up the titular band: Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Houghton (née Bailon), Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan.
- In 2017, Raven-Symoné returned to Disney Channel for “Raven’s Home,” a spin-off of her original show, “That’s So Raven.”
- Houghton is now a talk-show host on “The Real,” Bryan went on the compete in “Dancing With the Stars,” and Williams has appeared in a number of rom-coms.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
It has been 17 years since the Disney Channel aired “The Cheetah Girls” for the first time in 2003.
Although it doesn’t appear that the whole group is still close, all four leading ladies received a career boost after the film’s premiere.
Here’s what the stars of “The Cheetah Girls” have been up to since 2003.
Raven-Symoné was the biggest name attached to “The Cheetah Girls” when it came out.
Raven-Symoné became a household name at 4 years old as Olivia Kendall on NBC’s “The Cosby Show.”
Before "The Cheetah Girls," Raven-Symoné made her Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) debut in "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century" (1999) as Nebula Wade, and her Disney Channel original series debut in 2001 with "The Proud Family" as the voice of Stephanie.
She went on to become a series regular on "Kim Possible" from 2002 to 2007 as the voice of Monique before starring on "That's So Raven, which premiered a few months before she appeared as Galleria in "The Cheetah Girls," from 2003 to 2007
After "The Cheetah Girls," Raven-Symoné continued her Disney Channel career and expanded to other networks as well.
Raven-Symoné's success has largely come from her work on television as well as her career as a singer-songwriter, which has been a component of a number of her roles.
She toured with The Cheetah Girls in real life for a while in the 2000s before leaving the group to focus on her own career.
In addition to continuing her career on "That's So Raven," she guest-starred on other Disney shows like "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" in 2006, "Cory in the House" (the spin-off of "That's So Raven") in 2007, "Sonny With a Chance" in 2010, and "K.C. Undercover" in 2015. She also voiced Iridessa in Disney's "Tinker Bell" franchise.
"The Cheetah Girls" aired a sequel on the Disney Channel in 2006, which included all of the original stars, but Raven-Symoné notably did not return for the franchise's third film in 2008.
In 2011, she landed her own show on ABC Family (now Freeform) called "The State of Georgia," which ran for one season. She went on to appear on CMT's "Nashville" in 2016, Netflix's "Master of None" in 2017, ABC's"Black-ish" from 2015 to 2019, and Freeform's "The Bold Type" in 2020.
She also performed as the Black Widow on Fox's "The Masked Singer" in 2019.
In 2017, Raven-Symoné returned to the Disney Channel for the "That's So Raven" spin-off "Raven's Home," which is currently airing its third season.
Adrienne Houghton (née Bailon) made waves before "The Cheetah Girls" in the girl group 3LW.
Adrienne Houghton made a name for herself in another girl band before "The Cheetah Girls" -the pop/R&B trio 3LW (short for 3 Little Women).
She guest-starred with 3LW on the Nickelodeon series "Taina" in 2001, but the group broke up in 2002 when Naturi Naughton left.
Houghton's career didn't really take off until after she played Chanel in "The Cheetah Girls."
Since "The Cheetah Girls," Houghton has continued her career on television.
After "The Cheetah Girls," Houghton appeared on "That's So Raven" from 2003 to 2004 as the character Alana, and went on to the big screen in 2005 with "Coach Carter."
She continued to tour and make music with The Cheetah Girls group in real life and she appeared in "The Cheetah Girls 2" (2006) and "The Cheetah Girls: One World" (2008).
Some of her other movie credits include "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" (2008) and "Lovestruck: The Musical" (2013).
Houghton released her first solo album "New Tradícíones" in 2017. And, following Raven-Symoné's lead, Houghton also appeared on "The Masked Singer" in 2019 - she performed as Flamingo.
She is currently a co-host on the daytime talk show "The Real," which is syndicated to local channels.
Kiely Williams also got her start in 3LW with "The Cheetah Girls" co-star Houghton.
Kiely Williams rose to fame alongside Houghton while performing in girl group 3LW. Playing Aqua in "The Cheetah Girls" was also Williams' big break.
After "The Cheetah Girls," Williams kept performing with the real-life band, and she appeared in a few films as well.
Williams returned for "The Cheetah Girls 2" in 2006 and starred alongside Houghton and Sabrina Bryan in "The Cheetah Girls: One World" in 2008. She also toured and made music with the group in real life.
In 2008, she also had a small role in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" alongside Houghton.
She went on to appear in "The House Bunny" (2008), "Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale" (2010), and "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming" (2010).
Other than an appearance on ABC's "Celebrity Family Feud" in 2017, Williams has kept her entertainment career low-key since 2013, when she starred in the thriller "Holla II."
Sabrina Bryan was already working in films and on TV before "The Cheetah Girls."
Sabrina Bryan appeared in a few films, including "Matilda" (1996), and had a seven-episode arc on CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 2002, a year before her big break as Dorinda in "The Cheetah Girls."
After the DCOM, Bryan continued to act, sing, and dance professionally.
Bryan returned for "The Cheetah Girls 2" as well as "The Cheetah Girls: One World," and she toured with the group in real life throughout the 2000s.
Bryan showed off her moves on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" twice - in 2007 with Mark Ballas and in 2012 with Louis van Amstel.
She continued her Disney Channel career on "Fish Hooks" from 2010 to 2012, voicing the character Pamela Hamster. Her latest acting work was in "A Deadly Dance" (2019) as Kate.
Read more:
- 50 of the best Disney Channel original movies of all time, ranked
- THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'Bring It On' 20 years later
- THEN AND NOW: The members of One Direction nearly 10 years later
- The worst movies every actor from 'High School Musical' has been in