During 2003, Scherzinger, a former member of Popstars winners Eden's Crush, became the recording group's lead singer. In the same year, vocalist Thornton and Jones were also recruited in order to add vocal strength to the group. The musical group's initial line-up consisted of Scherzinger, Thornton, Jones, Antin, Bachar, Batten, Campbell, Wyatt, Roberts, and Sutta. The group appeared in two soundtracks during 2004, for the films Shark Tale and Shall We Dance?. The newly formed recording group's first single was "Sway" from Shall We Dance?, with a music video inspired by the movie.
In 2004, just before the group's debut, Batten and Campbell left the group to pursue their solo dancing careers. Later in 2005, Jones left the group after recording their debut album, to pursue modeling and a solo musical career. Antin remained with the group as founder, manager and business associate to Interscope. By the time the recording group was launched the musical lineup was a sextet composed of Scherzinger, Thornton, Bachar, Sutta, Roberts and Wyatt.
On September 13, 2005, they released their debut album, PCD, which debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. Their first single, "Don't Cha" was a success, reaching number one in multiple countries including UK, Australia and Canada and scored a maximum of number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally sung by Tori Alamaze and featured rapper Busta Rhymes. The ballad "Stickwitu" was another top five in the US, and was their second number one in the UK. It was later nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group. "Beep", featuring will.i.am, was less successful but did reach number one in some international markets. "Buttons" (with rapper Snoop Dogg) scored number three on the UK Singles Chart; the next single, "I Don't Need a Man" was not as successful, although it scored the top 10 in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and UK. The group's sixth single from the album was "Wait a Minute" featuring Timbaland released in the US in August 2006, becoming a top 40 success worldwide. The group was selected to perform for the introduction for ABC's coverage of the NBA. During 2007, a version of "Right Now" was used as a theme song for the NBA, though the lyrics had been altered.
In April 2006, The New York Times reported that Interscope executives were working to produce their own reality TV series, overseen by the producers of America's Next Top Model and McG, the director of the Charlie's Angels films. The show, entitled Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll would search for a new member for the recording group. The new member would sing on the next album and tour with the group. The show premiered on The CW, on March 6, 2007. It premiered in Australia and the UK on April 1. The season finale announced the winner of the show to be Asia Nitollano. It was announced in July that Asia Nitollano had "decided to pursue a solo career" instead.
The second season of the show commenced broadcast on February 18, 2008, titled Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious. Unlike the previous series which tried to find a new member to join the Dolls, the second series auditioned women to become part of a new three member all-female group, Girlicious. However, on the show's finale, it was revealed that Girlicious would be a quartet. The lineup was composed of Nichole Cordova, Tiffanie Anderson, Chrystina Sayers, and Natalie Mejia. The group debuted just after the show's finale, releasing their debut album and gaining attention from mostly Canadian and Brazilian audiences with their hip-hop, urban sound. However on June 2009, after a change of direction from urban to pop, it was announced by Antin that Anderson left the group and that Girlicious will continue as a trio. Members of the Pussycat Dolls recording group appeared on both seasons of the Pussycat Dolls Present: either as guest judge, performing songs, or in a video message shown to the contestants each week.
In 2006 the group ran into trouble in Kuala Lumpur with the authorities for sexually explicit dancing. The performance, part of their PCD World Tour, was not well-received in the Muslim state which frowned upon the group's "eye-popping attire" and "sexually suggestive stage routines". 'Absolute Entertainment', the company behind the group's appearance in Malaysia was fined $3000 for the incident.
Meanwhile Margeaux Watson of Entertainment Weekly took a major swipe at the group for their overemphasis of Scherzinger as the lead singer. Watson said "there are two types of girl groups: those anchored by a superstar (e.g. Destiny's Child, The Supremes) or those made of charismatic personalities (The Spice Girls). The [Pussycat Dolls] are neither." Other criticism pointed out that "Scherzinger is no Beyoncé Knowles" and that many people could not even name the other four dolls.