Who says three's a crowd? They're feline-fine but, truth is, there's nothing catty about Adrienne, Sabrina and Kiely who, together, are The Cheetah Girls. They don't have anything bad to say about anybody. Especially each other.

It's early December, and GL has a Cheetah on the line: "Hi, it's Adrienne. I have the other two girls with me. We can talk as long as you'd like." We get a vibe right away that Adrienne is the unofficial leader of the Cheetah pack. She's calling from a tour bus in Corpus Christi, Texas. They're about halfway through an 80-city tour, on their way to the arena.

The girls have been touring like crazy. They hit the road last September and will wrap up their final appearance the first week in February. Last stop? Hawaii. A fabulously exotic destination. Even so, some girls might think that being confined to a bus for five straight months with two best friends could get a bit, um, toocloseforcomfort. But not for the Cheetahs. In fact, Adrienne swears the whole tour thing is like one big slumber party on wheels.

The cat pack

"Honestly, it was hard going home for Thanksgiving," Adrienne says. "I missed everybody. I missed the bus. I missed the crew, and just the routine of things. You're used to getting up in the morning and seeing the same faces, and it's really nice. So that was rough, and I'm sure it's gonna happen again during Christmastime. It's a little bittersweet. You know, you get to go home and see the family, but yet, you miss your road family."

Wow, so ... this isn't all an act? These three girls are truly inseparable--even when there are no crowded arenas or camera crews? "Oh, very much so," Adrienne says. "Me and the girls--well, even when we're not on the road, we're hanging out. I think we've pretty much spent every minute together since shooting the last movie in Barcelona."

She's referring, of course, to the Disney Channel's The Cheetah Girls 2, now on DVD, which was shot in Spain. "We were out there together for three months," Adrienne continues, "and we went straight into the tour. In February, we're gonna be going back to L.A. We're getting ready to do our first studio album, which we're so excited about."

So how will they spend Valentine's Day? Together, of course. "The label is sending us on a Mediterranean cruise!"

Which came first ...?

What most fans don't know--except for maybe the most die-hard Cheetah aficionados--is that Adrienne and Kiely are part of another musical trio. Along with a girl named Jessica Benson, they form the group 3LW.

"We keep saying we're gonna go back and do something with Jessica," says Adrienne. "But with everything that's going on with The Cheetah Girls ... it's a whirlwind for us. 3LW's always been a project we know we can go into years from now, and we're just really enjoying our moment as The Cheetah Girls. So we kind of have that on hold."

While some people don't believe in coincidences, perhaps it's fateful that Adrienne and Kiely were chosen to be Cheetahs. Back in their early 3LW days, they both auditioned and were cast to appear in the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls.

"The casting directors called us in because they were looking for girls that could sing, dance and act. And because we were in a girl group, they said it made perfect sense," Adrienne explains.

It's polite, soft-spoken Kiely's turn to talk, and when we ask her about 3LW, she perks up like she just threw back a shot of espresso with double sugar: "Oh, that was a great experience. Adrienne and I feel it definitely helped pave the way for the Cheetahs. Especially with The Cheetah Girls being about an all-girl group going through the trials and tribulations of trying to make your dreams come true, together, as a unit."

Yes, that whole dreams-come-true concept is the stuff The Walt Disney Company is made of. And, no, Jessica Benson did not make it to that Cheetah Girls casting call. But who can't help wondering--if she had, would The Cheetah Girls have been an animal-print replica of 3LW?

What about Raven?

Or would it be 4LW with Raven thrown into the mix? The thing is, Raven does her own thing while the Cheetahs do theirs. Of course, they all get together for certain projects. But hear this: Raven is not an official Cheetah.

The phone is passed to Sabrina, and she takes a stab at clearing up any confusion. She's friendly and fast-talking: "It was established before we did the second movie that the music group was the three of us and she was featured in the movies. And, you know, she has her own album and stuff. It's great to have her around when she can be. I mean, I love going out to dinner with her."

"She's actually on tour right now, and we support that totally," Kiely tells us. "Her mom came to one of our shows because Raven couldn't make it, but just having that support there from another one of our mama Cheetahs ... it's great."

"We've never toured with Raven, so we don't know what it would be like to tour with her," Adrienne adds. "I think it's great to see that the girls know Raven is featured in the movies, but we are the singing group. She's on the road, too, so we get to go check out her shows, as well. She wants to be a solo artist, so would I want her here? No."

Yeah, we get a distinct Cheetah-vibe that while the girls genuinely support and respect Raven, they really aren't all that tight with her. Not like they are with each other. "She's more of a friend," says Adrienne. "These are my sisters."

The claws come out

We have to ask the obvious question: Do The Cheetah Girls ever have catfights? Adrienne's tone changes to what could only be described as irritated when she answers, "It makes us sad when people ask questions like that. It's like, wow, that's so sad that you just can't see three girls who get along. We've got great plans, and it's all good. Why is that so surprising to you?

"There's always questions of, 'Oh, are you really friends? Do you guys hate each other?' No. We're like sisters, and we're not petty. We're not competitive toward each other. If anything, we're like, 'Hey, girl, do your thing.' We're supportive of one another."

Sabrina matter-of-factly backs up her bud's sister-bond statements, even going one better: "The only thing that's different is we definitely don't fight as much as sisters do about little things. We're really like a team force as far as, you know, we have such a great energy when we're together. And we back each other up, and we want to know each other's opinions about everything from boys to career decisions. We love working together, and we want to make this last for as long as it can. They're my best friends, for sure."

Kiely takes the phone. "Adrienne was telling me that you sounded a bit incredulous when you heard we were so close," she says. This reporter explains to her that it's not so much the sisterhood that's surprising--it's the claim that the Cheetahs, who live together day in and day out on a narrow, one-bathroom, bunk-bedded bus going from one strange city to the next ... never have conflicts. Never? Ever?

"Well, there's really not much to fight about," Kiely says. "When you get into a business relationship with friends, you have to be realistic in the sense that everyone can't always be happy, and that's what compromise means. We honestly know the value of that. We have so much day-to-day conflicts with the label, the promoters, our tour and things like that, so we have to band together and fight against other people.

"Coming into this, we were all levelheaded. We were mature in the sense that, if we don't agree about business, it shouldn't affect our friendship. That keeps the peace above anything else. We actually enjoy each other's company."

What's in a name?

Most fans know "Chanel," "Dorinda" and "Aquanetta" are merely Cheetah stage names. And the girls appreciate your showbiz savvy. "It's great to see the girls know us by our first names, not so much by character," says Adrienne.

Still, we're curious as to how much of real-life Adrienne she pours into her character. "I am most like Chanel in the sense that she's driven, she's focused, she's a hardworking girl, and sometimes I laugh at myself because I'm like, 'Wow, I am seriously a workaholic.'

"I'm a perfectionist, and her drive and the way she dreams big and makes it happen ... When I was younger I was like, 'You watch, I'm gonna do big things.' It's amazing to see that come to fruition. I see that in my character, you know, a young Latina girl having huge dreams and making them come true."

"Definitely my dance background is what ties me to Dorinda," says Sabrina. "She has an eye for choreography. And that's what I grew up doing. When I first got into the business, I wanted to be a dancer. I got into it, and then I started going, 'Oh, my gosh. I want to act, too.' I just got more and more into it. So I love the fact that she has such a passion."

And in what way does Kiely most identify with Aquanetta? "I think the most similar characteristic I have that Aqua possesses is probably her vat of useless information. My friends call me 'Snapple Facts' because I'm just full of little tidbits that probably amount to nothing, but I find it so interesting."

The Cheetahs are at the venue now, and the show must go on. A tour manager yells from the background, "We've got to go!" But before hanging up, we ask Kiely for a sliver of useless information.

"Starfish always swim backward."

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DEAN FOREMAN