Mel C's aversion to fame ruled out Spice Girls return

03 Oct 2016 |

Former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm will not return to the band due to her hatred of fame.The legendary girl group were originally rumoured to be plotting a reunion for earlier this year (16) to mark the 20th anniversary of their first hit Wannabe, but Mel joined Victoria Beckham in refusing to return to the group. The three remaining Spice Girls, Geri Horner, Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton, have instead reformed as a trio, dubbed GEM, and are working on new material.However Mel has repeatedly ruled out a return and reveals her reluctance to reform the group is due to feeling uncomfortable with the fame that comes with being in the band."As a Spice Girl, of course I was a celebrity, but in the past five to ten years I've had a real problem with what celebrity entails," she tells U.K. newspaper The Times. "It has become grotesque.

I genuinely can't bear it."Despite wanting the Spice Girls final performance to be their turn at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony, the former Sporty Spice says she wishes her old bandmates luck and denies suggestions she's taking legal action to prevent a reunion."Am I heck!" She replies to the suggestion she's suing. "Good luck to them. I'm very grateful to whoever decided to make a big deal of Wannabe's anniversary, but it's now become this ridiculous thing."The singer explains that although her enjoyment of their Olympics performance meant she considered a return, she ultimately refused."We all enjoyed playing at the Olympics in 2012," she says. "OK, Victoria not so much.

I think she found that type of attention overwhelming...The rest of us agreed to keep the door open. We said in a year or so we'd get together to see what we thought but we never got around to organising anything and by the time talk of the anniversary came round I'd decided against it."Despite her difficulties with the nature of fame, Mel is pursuing a solo career and has a new album, titled Version of Me out on 21 October (16).