Wannabe more like Mel C

MELANIE Chisholm, also known as Mel C, or Sporty Spice, discussed her new book, Who I Am, with
Bryony Gordon.

She is best known as a member of the Spice Girls. Hers is not the first Spice Girl memoir — her bandmates Melanie B and Victoria Beckham have also published autobiographies.

Each one seems to shed light on different aspects of life in the band.

Chisholm began by explaining that in hers, she focuses on the darker aspects of fame.

With remarkable poise and brutal honesty, she recounted her experiences of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and being bullied by tabloids.

The number of phones that shot up to photograph her as soon as she stepped on stage demonstrated the surveillance she has endured for most of her life.

In many ways, her experiences are unique — few of us can claim to belong to a band with more than 100 million record sales.

However, she spoke really powerfully about the timing of the book and her motivation for writing it.

She said: “I wanted to write about my loneliest times… I want to provide comfort for other people… to read about other people’s experiences makes you feel less alone.”

Chisholm is reluctant to be classed as a “spokesperson of a generation on mental health”.

However, she was a very compelling speaker.

Like other audience members I spoke to, I was very impressed by her grounded persona.

Whether it’s through her music or her frank discussions of her personal struggles, she has clearly impacted a lot of people.

Fans from Pennsylvania and Brazil piped up from the audience.

Teachers Harriet and Katie shared that they have a group chat with friends called “The Spice Girl”’.

Meanwhile, 11-year-old Eliza said she admired Chisholm’s “message of girl power”.

Lots of women seemed to have been allocated Spice Girls to play when they were younger.

While I would usually consider myself a Posh Spice, after this talk I think I want to be a bit more like Sporty.

Lucie Richardson