When [url id="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/making_the_band_4/series.jhtml"]"Making the Band"[/url] returns on February 12, fans already know two former members will be missing: Aubrey O'Day and D. Woods, who were dismissed from the group by

[article id="1597082"]Diddy last season[/article]. But they'll probably be surprised that Shannon Bex isn't there either, which apparently means the end of the band.

"As of right now, [Danity Kane doesn't exist]," Dawn Richard told MTV News on Wednesday (January 28). "It's devastating for me."

"You'll see me and Drea [Aundrea Fimbres] try and pick up the pieces on our own [on this season's show] -- pieces that we didn't even make," she continued. "We didn't even break it and we're trying to sweep it up ourselves. Puff invited all the girls to come back on this season and they chose not to. Only two of us showed up. That's fine if that's the choice.

"It changes [our situation] completely," she said. "We have fans out there who love Danity Kane. We love Danity Kane. It's hard. We're sitting here trying to make sense of it now. It's hard. We're put in this position that we didn't ask to be in and we're being told to fix it."

Richard said that Bex apparently made the decision not to show up for the season on her own.

"I don't know why [Bex left]. I think she's just happy. I don't want to even try to answer it 'cause that's not fair to her. I haven't [spoken to her] but I heard she's doing well with her husband and she got a house. I love her, but I don't know."

[article id="1603612"]Bex was coy[/article] about the issue in an interview published earlier this week.

Richard admitted that she was as surprised as anyone that she and Drea were the only members on the set. "We are the only two that showed up," she said. "The thing about it ... I thought we were all going to come back and talk, or maybe if Aubrey didn't come back, 'cause I don't know how Puff was feeling about that, if the four of us got together. I didn't know what to expect. I just know I got off the plane and found out I was the only one there and Drea came the next day."

And although Fimbres and Richard were both present for the taping of the show, it seems that Richard spent a lot of her time hanging out with fellow "MTB" castmates Day 26 trying to make the best of the situation.

"I was there every day, on my own. Sometimes Drea was there, sometimes she wasn't, 'cause she had to go fix some stuff at home," she said. "So it was me and six guys, which is great 'cause I'm a guy girl! It was fun. [But] it was very hard not knowing what the next step was going to be."

One thing that Richard is certain of is her disbelief at everything that's happened with Danity Kane in the last few months, which not only included the two dismissals but also news about

[article id="1602077"]Aubrey O'Day's sexuality[/article] and her forthcoming

[article id="1602573"]Playboy spread[/article].

"I'm still surprised at it all. I'm still trying to recover from the first fire," she said. "So I'm still confused. I still don't know. I'm just being so honest. I have no idea."

A spokesperson for Diddy and Danity Kane's rep at Atlantic Records had no comment.

MTV News will have lots more from our interview with Dawn Richard in the coming days.

Viewers can see everything unfold on the next season of "Making the Band," which premieres on February 12.