Russian duo t.A.T.u. (aka Tatu) will be releasing their second, and long-awaited, album in October.

Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova shot to pop stardom with the song “All The Things She Said” in 2003. The music video, featuring the teen girls kissing in the rain, fueled rumours that they were lesbians, an image they readily played up.

But now the pop stars claim they were never lesbians and their controversial former manager Ivan Shapovalov, a former Russian child psychologist and marketing executive, was responsible for the image.

“The truth is the girls were never lesbians in the first place,” says one source. “They feel like they were being exploited. They were only 14 and 15 when they started singing in concert halls and doing sexy routines.”

Under the lead of a new producer, Trevor Horn, t.A.T.u. is relaunching themselves with the album Dangerous and Moving, to be released to North America on October 18.

The first single will be “All About Us”.

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