People of the world! Spice Up Your Life! Because Melanie C is the today's guest on Reign! We celebrate 25 years of the Spice Girls, and I think I have been her number one fan for that long! I can still remember my playground Spice Girls renditions with my other four spices - unfortunately I didn’t quite have the vocal range.

The Spice Girls not only sold over 100 million records worldwide with they huge hits, but in a world where men still dominated our culture - especially in music - their message of ‘Girl Power’ taught an entire generation about feminism and kicked the patriachy in the balls - right where it needed it!

Melanie went on to have a hugely successful solo career with bangers like I Turn To You, Never Be the Same Again, and When You’re Gone with Bryan Adams, selling 23 million records in the process. 2021 saw Melanie hitting the top ten with her self-titled album, showing that after three decades in the music business she is showing no signs of stopping, thank you very much!

After recently appearing on Dancing With The Stars in the USA, Melanie joins me for a chat that has tears, laughter and a whole lot more. We talk about the sexism that Spice Girls dealt with during their career, the allegations surrounding Melanie’s sexuality after she cut her hair short when launching her solo career, and just how classy a night out with the Spice Girls was. Plot spoiler it involved a lot of cheap alcohol - that’s our kinda gals!

Melanie also opens up about the body image issues that have affected her life and how her mental health left her contemplating whether life would be easier if she wasn’t around.

PLUS get ready to join our campaign because Melanie reveals that Glastonbury would be the ONE event that would get all five of the Spice Girls back together. Get those placards and those wellies and let’s make this happen queens!

I hope you love this episode as much as I do - it’s a real honour to be joined by such an ICON and I really hope you continue to listen and find the power to Reign in your own lives, too. If you love this episode get in touch (follow me across social media @joshsmithhosts), I love hearing from you. Love, Josh xxx

P.S If you have been affected or would like more information about the issues raised in this podcast please visit anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk or mind.org.uk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices