Mel C Of The Spice Girls Says Victoria Beckham Is To Blame For Her Back Out On 20th Anniversary Reunion
If you were holding onto the hope that Melanie Chisholm, alternately known as Sporty Spice, would rejoin the group that made her famous for their upcoming 20th anniversary, you’re officially out of luck.
Despite rumors that she was still weighing the options of taking part in their second reunion tour, the 42-year-old Spice Girls alum has officially opted out of doing so. In an essay for The Love, Chisholm notes the reasons why she just didn’t feel right about reforming the “Spice Up Your Life” collective at this time in her life, while also explaining the contrast of fame from the start of the group’s rise until today.
@MelanieCmusic aka Sporty Spice reveals all in a brutally honest piece over on LOVE With images by @thurstanredding pic.twitter.com/qYg9qUK9aO
— LOVE MAGAZINE (@THELOVEMAGAZINE) August 29, 2016
“Things were so different in the early days of the Spice Girls,” Chisholm expressed. “Nobody had the internet (it was all pagers and faxes), and we were written about most days in the tabloids, but the only access to that was popping down to the newsagents at the crack of dawn to check out the gossip columns.”
“I guess my relationship with the media took some time to settle,” she continued. “Misquotes, poisonous gossip, and [things] you’re forever questioned and judged [on]. Thankfully, it felt like they were writing about a stranger most of the time.”
Following the group’s first comeback tour in 2007, Chisholm says the media hype died down momentarily but kicked right back up the moment the Return of The Spice Girls excursion ended. In defense of the media, that tour ended several months earlier than expected, as noted by People.
“Look, I will be a Spice Girl until I die,” Melanie stated, “but the continuous speculation on whether we will reform to celebrate 20 years of ‘Wannabe’ has been particularly exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, I totally get it. But is it a new rule that bands have to reform? Why can’t we just be remembered for our incredible achievements in the nineties?”
However, after Beckham chose to put her family and fashion line first, Melanie made the decision not to regroup.
“Truth be told, earlier this year, after several face-to-face meetings with the girl, I made the difficult decision not to be part of a proposed reunion with Emma, Geri, and Melanie,” she admitted, making mention of the three-part Spice Girls — GEM — project that was introduced by Brown, Bunton, and Horner in July, which was reported by the Inquisitr.
“The hardest part for me was letting people down, the girls, the fans, [maybe even] civilization? Unfortunately, something didn’t feel quite right and I had to follow my gut. Anything less than the full line-up just didn’t feel like we’d be doing justice to the band or the fans.”
Although she feels anything less than all five Spice Girls is unfair, Chisholm holds no ill will to any of her group mates.
“We’re constantly reminded of our famous line from ‘Wannabe’ – ‘friendship never ends,'” she acknowledged. “There will always be hurdles with friendship. I love the girls dearly. We have a very unique bond that will never be broken and I will continue to support them all as much as I can.”
In the meantime, Melanie will continue working on her ninth studio album, Version of Me, set to drop in October — and no, in case anyone was wondering, her choice to press on as a solo star has no part in her refusal to rejoin the Spice Girls.
“I am under no illusion that my solo work will ever come close to a fraction of the impact that we [made] as the Spice Girls,” she says. “I love the band, I am beyond proud of my past, and will always embrace and celebrate being a Spice Girl. It’s what I am.”
[Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images]
