Exclusive: “We’ve had our ups and downs,” Spice Girls’ Melanie C candidly tells me as she lifts the lid on her enduring friendship with her bandmates.
The group, consisting of Melanie Chisholm, 52, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Mel B and Emma Bunton, were in their late teens and early twenties when they formed, before ‘Spicemania’ took over the world and catapulted them to worldwide fame.
From the global stage to life in their 50s, Melanie C admits the Spice Girls’ wild journey has seen their friendship “evolve” as they navigate life’s milestones together.
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”Evolved is the perfect word to describe it,” Melanie C tells nine.com.au, as we meet to discuss her new music and upcoming ninth studio album, Sweat.
“We met each other when we were very young, so we know each other very well and we experienced something really unique together.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, we’ve been through so many life changes, like becoming parents and going into different careers.”
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Today, their friendship has deepened and matured as they’ve grown older, and it’s something she says is “beautiful”.
“Now, we’re all 50 and Emma was the last one… we’re at a point where I think we truly appreciate and respect each other more than what we ever have,” she admits.
The girls, including Chisholm, Beckham, 52, and Halliwell, 53, reunited in January – much to the thrill of Spice Girls fans – at Emma Bunton’s milestone 50th birthday celebrations in the Cotswolds in the UK.
“That’s just a really beautiful place to be. We know none of us would have the lives we have without each other, so we really respect that,” she adds.
The girl group dominated the charts with hits including Say You’ll Be There and Spice Up Your Life and championed the phrase ‘Girl Power’ to fans.
They fast became the best-selling girl group of all time, proving naysayers wrong and going on to sell more than a whopping 100 million records worldwide.
At the time of their formation in 1994, they were put together to challenge the boybands at the time.
It’s a huge feat for a girl from Lancashire, in the UK.
In a powerful moment, which she touches on in her Memoir Who I Am, My Story, Melanie C says she always knew it was her “destiny” to become a singer and make a name for herself, and the other Spice Girls felt the exact same way too.
And in Melanie C’s own words, their hard work, drive and determination in their early days as a group, made them “unstoppable”.
“And meeting these other four Spice Girls who felt exactly the same, that gave us this incredible power.”
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“It’s such a funny feeling because you don’t know why do these things happen – there are so many incredibly talented people out there, but it doesn’t happen for everybody,” she reflects to nine.com.au.
“I was very single-minded, I kind of wouldn’t take no for an answer, I was like, ‘I am going to do this’. Not in a ruthless way, of no matter what it takes, but I felt like it was fate and my destiny.”
“And meeting these other four Spice Girls who felt exactly the same, that gave us this incredible power.
“The five of us were so driven to succeed. Was it fate, was it written in the stars? Did we make it happen… I think the power of the mind is very important and especially if you meet like-minded people it makes you unstoppable.”
They truly were ”unstoppable”, telling their manager Simon Fuller exactly what they wanted to achieve in their future.
“It was nuts. When we first met Simon Fuller, who was our manager through those years, we went into him, we had demos of the album, we said, ‘We want to make a movie, we want to be known all over the world, we want to be household names,'” she explains.
“And a lot of poeple were a bit like, ‘OK girls, calm down’. But we did it. We said we were going to do it and we did it!”
That movie was Spice World, released in 1997. There are three studio albums under their belt and one compilation album.
What happened to the Spice Girls?
The girls were given monikers, and were known as Sporty Spice, Posh Spice, Ginger Spice, Baby and Scary Spice to fans.
In 1998, Halliwell officially left the group; but has since reunited with the girls.
But behind the glitz and the glamour of being a Spice Girl, came a downside for Melanie C too, which meant being a tabloid fixture and going through personal issues of her own.
In her book, she speaks in-depth about having an eating disorder and struggling with her mental health.
When asked about finally being able to tell her story in her own words and show the real Melanie C to fans through the book, the star says she avoided writing her life story for years, but feels like she has been able to help people.
“I was reluctant to write a memoir for a long time, even though a lot of my adult life has been played out in the media, I’m quite a private person,” she tells nine.com.au.
“I had avoided that, but then I thought, ‘You know what, lots of other people have told their version of my story’, and so it was nice.
“There are certain things and times in my life that have been quite difficult and things I’ve had to overcome and they’re very human things.”
She says she thinks sometimes people forget that despite the fame and fortune, those in the public eye can still go through trying times.
“I think sometimes, people see people in the public eye and they can’t imagine things being tough for them, but we’re all human and all have the same insecurities and it can be powerful for people to read those words.
“I have really beautiful messages from people… as hard as it is sometimes to do that, it’s really beneficial.”
Now, Melanie C is celebrating her new music, with her ninth studio album titled Sweat coming out on May 1.
The star of course has also had huge success as a solo artist over the years, and is known for hit songs including I Turn To You and Never Be the Same Again.
“Sweat I suppose, in a way, is very inspired by being a Spice Girl, I fully embraced my sporty side,” she says.
“I had loads of fun in the studio, musically, obviously I am a pop artist and I always will be, but I’ve been DJ’ing for about eight years and just rekindled that love with dance and house music.
“I was a raver back in the early 90s and so it was really beautiful to bring those worlds closer together.”
Talking about the single, Sweat, she says: “It’s a bit of a workout anthem.”
“It’s a very upbeat, I’d say postive and joyous record,” she adds.
Other new singles include Undefeated Champion and What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
She’s going on a world tour too, with dates in Canada, the US, the UK, Asia and even Australia.
She will perform in Australia in November, with dates in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
“I love making music, but the ultimate for me is being onstage,” Melanie C says.
“It’s that moment when you have your audience in front of you and there’s such a connection and you’re sharing this beautiful moment and it’s what’s always driven me.
“Now being the master of my own destiny, I’m able to do it so much more and it makes me really happy. I will be up there having a ball.”
There’s always a question in the mix about a reunion, so I couldn’t help but ask.
When asked about the Spice Girls ever coming to Australia and performing together, Melanie C says never say never.
“We owe you, we owe Australia… but Australia has always been the one that’s next,” she says.
Despite it being far away from the UK, she says with a laugh: ”That doesn’t matter, It’s worth it!”
Melanie C World Tour Dates for Australia are as follows:
Wed 11 Nov 2026 – Astor Theatre, Perth
Fri 13 Nov 2026 – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
Sat 14 Nov 2026 – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Sun 15 Nov 2026 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
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