Even Paula Abdul at her seemingly drug-addled best on “American Idol” is no match for what went on during MTV’s “Making the Band” opus, which ended in the formation of sexed-up girl group Danity Kane. Cycling through hundreds of girls, dozens of catfights, endless tears and countless yards of hair weaves, tireless taskmaster Sean “P. Diddy” Combs finally settled on Aubrey O’ Day, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres and Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgette as his crew of golden calves.

And despite the constant critical roasting the gals receive, someone (read: Combs) is laughing all the way to the bank. Danity Kane’s eponymous debut of guilty pleasure pop went platinum, while their equally thump-heavy sophomore effort, “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” moved nearly a quarter of a million discs in the first week of release alone.

Clocking such impressive numbers in a seriously depressed music economy has afforded the ladies all sorts of liberties, especially Aubrey O’ Day, who drunkenly dissed Diddy on TMZ.com and hinted at leaving the group to join the Pussycat Dolls between records. She’s also been romantically linked to a wide range of celebs, from junior popster Jesse McCartney to porn legend/plastic surgery curiosity Jenna Jameson.

But all’s well that ends in big sales and heavy radio play, and D.K. have both in spades. Their latest single, the overwrought dance pulse “Damaged,” has skyrocketed up the charts. And now the group has embarked on a headlining tour with Day26 and Donnie Klang, two other Diddy-orchestrated outfits (though at press time, according to Ticketmaster, five of the 12 U.S. dates have been mysteriously canceled). Nice work if you can stand it.

See what kind of teen sex riot Danity Kane and company can create when they hit the Wiltern on June 9