ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Remake Casts Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger As Cynthia Rhodes' Penny

While details of production remain fairly unclear, ABC's musical remake of Dirty Dancing is currently moving forward, and now the fourth cast member has joined the project after Abigail Breslin, Debra Messing and Cole Prattes. Now Nicole Scherzinger, best known as the former frontwoman of The Pussycat Dolls, will be joining the cast as Penny, a role originally played by Cynthia Rhodes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 37-year-old singer has been tapped to play the role, which is one of Baby's allies in the story. In the original movie, Penny is Johnny's dance partner at the resort Baby's staying at, and the two take her under their wing to teach her how to dance.

#dirtydancing !!! I'm so excited!!! Lol! I'm coming for ya! #imcomingforyou https://t.co/AUO0yavnWB pic.twitter.com/xyjwQoQSpT

— Nicole Scherzinger (@NicoleScherzy) March 2, 2016

Scherzinger has focused her career on singing and dancing, but she has done some acting on the screen the past, including small roles in How I Met Your Mother and Wizards of Waverly Place and, most notably, co-starring with Sofia Vergara in the 2003 film Chasing Papi.

More interestingly, Scherzinger was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for playing Grizabella in the Broadway revival of Cats, a role she's currently in talks to reprise, Deadline reports.

This is also Scherzinger's big return to ABC after 2010, when she won the season 10 of Dancing with the Stars accompanied by Derek Hough.

Like the 1987 film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, the new Dirty Dancing remake will focus on Baby (Breslin), a young girl in the early 1960's who vacations at a resort on the Catskill Mountains with her parents (Messing will be playing her mom). Insecure after her parents have kept her on a tight leash all her life, Baby takes up dance lessons with Johnny (Prattes), who not only teaches her new moves but also leads her to find new confidence.

Further casting has yet to be announced, and it's still unclear when the TV movie musical version will air.