British singer Melanie Chisholm (48), better known as Mel C, said she was not allowed to have friends during the heyday of the Spice Girls. The management didn’t think she was strong enough for a relationship, while the other members of the group were allowed to date.
“I always thought: apparently it’s one rule for me and another for the others,” she tells the Australian talk show. The project. Sporty Spice, who was just 20 years old when the girl group started in 1994, found it “devastating” that even her private life was so controlled.
“If you’re vulnerable and someone says to you, ‘I don’t think this is a good idea for you. It’s fine for that colleague, he can have a boyfriend, he can deal with that. She is strong enough, but you are not. Then you start doubting yourself.”
Once she was allowed to have friends, she had a short relationship with pop star Robbie Williams. She did not treat her very well, she describes in her new autobiography. “We’re doing a show together soon, so I’m going to tell him to read the chapter,” she jokes. “He has apologized, a lot has happened since then. We’ve been fine for a long time.”
She later got together with Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis, who even wrote a song for her, Emit Remmus (‘summertime‘ backwards).
Almost kicked out of the band
The Spice Girls, alongside Mel C consisting of Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham, were crazy about each other from day one. But they also got on each other’s nerves and that sometimes caused tension. Like in 1996, when the women attended the Brit Awards together, the English equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
The women had been drinking some alcohol when Melanie scolded Victoria. She said ‘fuck off‘, quite softly, and didn’t think it was that bad. ,,The next day I was called to account”, said Melanie, who was addressed sternly by both her colleagues and the manager. “There was a threat to kick me out of the band. That wrecked me.”
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I thought I could sing, I knew I could dance, but maybe I didn’t look good enough
The shock led her to control her behavior extremely, especially her diet. She developed an eating disorder. “Teachers would humiliate you in front of classmates if you gained a few pounds over the holidays,” said Chisholm, who often received comments about her appearance. In her book she describes that she once did a cartwheel and then had to hear criticism about the size of her thighs.
“That was an important moment. I started to think: maybe I don’t belong in a pop group. I thought I could sing, I knew I could dance, but maybe I didn’t look good enough,” she says. ,,That hurts a lot if your biggest dream is to pursue this career.” Only after her first solo record was released in 1999 did she seek help.
Also listen to the AD Media Podcast with this week’s nominations for the Televizier ring, the clash between Angela de Jong and Johan Derksen, the statement by Linda de Mol and the cancellation of Het Dorp. Listen below or subscribe via Spotify or iTunes.
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