30 years ago, the Spice Girls were global superstars. Now they swap parenting advice on a group chat
If they weren’t one of the most famous girl groups in the world, the Spice Girls could almost be confused for any other female friendship group who met, and tightly bonded together for life, in their 20s.
“Sporty Spice” Melanie C was 22 when the band’s debut single Wannabe was released, parachuting the group – which also included Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Mel B – into the global spotlight. Now 52, and promoting her Melanie C World Tour, visiting Australia this week, Melanie says the group’s friendships have only gotten better with age.
“The lovely thing now is – because we’re older – we’re just so much more relaxed and respectful of each other. I think, you know, when you’re maybe in your 20s and even into the 30s, there was a bit more infighting because we get frustrated with each other,” she says on the Good Weekend Talks podcast.
“But now it’s like a lot of peace and everyone’s mums, and I’m waiting for the first Spice Grandma to be honest – and it’s definitely going to be Victoria [Beckham], isn’t it?”
In a conversation with Courtney Thompson on the Good Weekend Talks podcast, Melanie confirmed the group have not one, but “a few” group chats – different ones for different things.
And while she remains closest to Bunton, Melanie – who has one daughter, 17-year-old Scarlett – says some of the best parenting advice she’s ever received came from Halliwell.
“Geri said to me, ‘When Scarlett’s a teenager, she will need you even more than she needs you when she’s a toddler’. And I was thinking, ‘No way, your babies need you, right? Your babies need you’ [but] oh my gosh, she was so right.”
Listen to the full episode, where Melanie C reflects on the pressure she faced during the height of Spice mania, why she feels more confident in her own skin in her 50s than ever before, and the joy of getting behind the DJ decks.
Now in her 50s and entering a new phase of her life and career, Melanie has been reflecting on the person she was when she rose to fame with the Spice Girls, and who she is today.
She says the two versions of herself really aren’t that different.
“We get really bombarded with who we should be, you know, what everybody’s expectation of us are, and I think it can just it can just wobble your core,” she says. “And the thing for me – which, you know, really changed everything – is literally realising I didn’t have to look outside myself to be who I am. It’s all very much rooted and there.
“And I think that’s what’s so important about people who’ve known you since you were a kid, you know, family, the friends you grew up with at school ... Get them to remind you that you’re brilliant.
“Who you were when you were 10 years old, is who you are when you’re 50 years old.”
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