Appleton (music duo) became students at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in North London, which was to tutor their fellow All Saints colleague and Nic's schoolmate, Melanie Blatt as well as Denise van Outen, Emma Bunton, Letitia Dean and Samantha Janus. The sisters were back in the UK in 1994, and, together with Shaznay Lewis, joined with former schoolmate Melanie Blatt to form All Saints. In 2000, both sisters appeared in the poorly received film "Honest", directed by ex-Eurythmics member Dave Stewart. In 2001, All Saints disbanded. Natalie and Nicole formed the band Appleton, and in September 2002, issued their first Appleton single
Bend It Like Beckham for the next three weekends, before being overtaken by "About a Boy". The film was released on DVD and VHS on 18 November 2002 by Warner Home Video. Among the DVD bonus features, there are several scenes that did not make the final release. Some include dialogue from Pinky's friends and from Jules, as well as her mother meeting Kevin and his friends outside a shop, which would have been helpful, as Kevin is mentioned three times but is never seen. "Bend It Like Beckham" surprised critics and met with mostly positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the