Mel C leaves the Spice Girls behind once and for all in a personal essay
By Josh Lee
The Spice Girls’ reunion has been on and off, then on again and off again, and, well, you get the point, ever since the band first split up in 2000.
Ever since their completely legendary performance at the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony there have been rumours and whispers that the girls would get back together – but while Geri, Mel B and Emma Bunton are still planning to reunite as a three-piece, sadly Mel C is not having any part of it.
The singer penned an essay in Love Magazine, in which she sets out her reasons for deciding to finally leave the Spice Girls behind. Describing herself as a “child of the 80s”, she puts her dwindling interest in the band down to her changing relationship with fame:
But my relationship with fame has changed over the years and at times of personal struggle (remember the angry rock chick years?) when you’d rather nobody knew who you were I’d have to remind myself that without fame from the band it would be far more difficult for me to do the thing that I love. You see, I’m a singer and songwriter. Not a celebrity. The two are very different things. You can earn a fortune being a ‘celebrity’ depending on how much dignity you want to keep in tact.
I’m not in the habit (although it may have happened once or twice!) of falling out of clubs, tipping off paps to my whereabouts and although we all have bills to pay I have never been comfortable with the lengths some celebs go to for a big fat cheque. Each to their own and maybe more fool me.
I’m a performer and being on a stage – whether it’s front of 20 or 20,000 people – gives me pleasure. If I don’t do it for a while I feel like a part of me is missing. The hunger to perform and create will never leave me.
There’s a lot to be said for bowing out on a high note. For me, the absolute pinnacle of my Spice existence was being watched by a billion people around the globe belting out Spice up Your Life on top of a black cab at the 2012 London Olympics.
Of course the Spice Girls were never going to carry on as a five-piece forever. But hearing it from Mel C, one of the more reunion-friendly girls, is a real nail-in-the-coffin moment.
GEM, it’s up to you!
Read the full essay here.