Melanie Chisholm is opening up about some of the private struggles she faced at the height of her Spice Girls fame.
Chisholm — aka Mel C, or “Sporty Spice” — revealed in a recent interview with the Telegraph that during her time in the British pop group, she was dealing with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder.
Chisholm, 48, described controlling behavior on the part of her management team, including Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, saying they told her she was too “vulnerable” to have a boyfriend due to her mental health struggles.
“It was a management call,” the singer told The Telegraph. “I was actively discouraged from having a relationship. I do believe it was with good intentions, but it wasn’t helpful at all.”
Chisholm also recalled the time a male member of her management team saw her practicing gymnastics and said, “I’m surprised you can do backflips with thighs like that.”
After that comment, she “severely restricted” her eating, the Telegraph said, “existing on little more than fruit and vegetables.”
Representatives for Simon Fuller and XIX Entertainment did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Today, Chisholm says it’s hard for her to look at certain photos of herself from her Spice Girls days, specifically from the girl group’s 1997 movie, “Spice World.”
“To look back and see myself so thin was hard to see,” she said. “It took me back to those times, and how tough it was.”
Chisholm also spoke candidly about her evolving relationships with other members of the group.
She said often felt like a “spare part” alongside bandmates Mel B (Melanie Brown) and Geri Halliwell, describing how when they were on tour, Brown would call her into her room for early-morning meetings.
“I would reluctantly drag myself out of bed and up the corridor of whatever hotel we were in, dreading what was in store. Normally these summits would serve to tell someone what they’d done ‘wrong,'” Chisholm wrote in her upcoming memoir, “The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl."
Now, however, Chisholm says she and the other Spice Girls are on good terms.
“Melanie and I, our relationship now is probably better than it ever has been,” she told the Telegraph.
A spokesperson for Brown reached by TODAY declined to comment.
Chisholm added that each band member read an early draft of her book.
“As soon as they were happy and comfortable it was like, phew, that’s a big hurdle,” she said.
Following her time in the Spice Girls, Chisholm has had a successful solo career, though she said she would still jump at the chance to perform with her former bandmates in the “Legends” slot of England’s famed Glastonbury Festival, if asked.
“Since I had my daughter, my lower back isn’t what it was, so it makes me a bit nervous," she said. "But I think I need to make a little pact with the world: if the Spice Girls make it to that Glastonbury stage, I need to get my backflip back in order."
Chisholm’s memoir, “The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl,” will be released Sept. 27.