Mel C Reveals She Was Sexually Assaulted Before 1st Spice Girls Concert: ‘I Buried It For Years’

Mel C (real sanction Melanie Chrisholm) revealed she was sexually assaulted the nighttime earlier her archetypal unrecorded show with the Spice Girls. The 48-year-old singer, known arsenic Sporty Spice successful the celebrated miss group, wrote astir the harrowing incidental successful her caller memoir The Sporty One: My Life arsenic a Spice Girl, and went into much item connected Tuesday’s (September 13) occurrence of the How to Fail podcast. “What happened to me, I benignant of buried immediately,” she explained during the program. “And due to the fact that I didn’t woody with it astatine the time, I recognize that I allowed that to beryllium buried for years and years and years.”

Mel C revealed she was sexually assaulted connected the eve of her archetypal performance with the Spice Girls. (Bonnie Britain/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)

The British popular prima said the onslaught took spot successful Istanbul successful 1997, conscionable arsenic the Spice Girls were preparing for their archetypal performance successful beforehand of a unrecorded audience. To dainty herself, Mel C, who was 23 astatine the time, booked a massage with a antheral masseur connected the eve of the gig.  “It happened to maine connected the nighttime earlier the archetypal ever Spice Girls unrecorded performance,” Mel C said connected the podcast. “And we’d ne'er done a full-length performance before, so, obviously, we’d rehearsed for weeks up — costume fittings, make-up, hairsbreadth — everything was starring towards the pinnacle of everything I’d ever wanted to bash and ever wanted to be.”

“And what drives maine is being onstage, being a performer, truthful present we were the eve of the archetypal ever Spice Girls show, truthful I dainty myself to a massage successful the hotel. And what happened to me, I benignant of buried immediately, due to the fact that determination was different things to absorption on. You know, I didn’t privation to marque a fuss, but besides I didn’t person clip to woody with it.”

Mel C said she buried the harrowing incidental until she wrote her memoir. Pictured present with the Spice Girls. (Shutterstock)

The determination to support the battle confidential stayed with her until she began moving connected the caller memoir. “It came to maine successful a dream, oregon I benignant of woke up and it was successful my mind,” Mel C explained connected the podcast. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven’t adjacent thought of having that successful the book.’ Then, of course, I had to think, ‘Well, bash I privation to uncover this?’ And I conscionable thought, actually, it’s truly important for maine to accidental it, and to yet woody with it and process it.”

While she didn’t spell into details of the assault, she added, “I suppose, successful a mentation of intersexual assault, it’s a mild version, but I felt violated. I felt precise vulnerable. I felt embarrassed. And past I felt unsure — person I got this right? What’s going on? I was successful an situation wherever you instrumentality your apparel disconnected with this nonrecreational person. So determination were truthful galore thoughts and feelings, and I conscionable felt, you cognize what, I bash privation to speech astir it due to the fact that it has affected me. But I’d buried it, and I’m definite tons of men and women do.”

Mel C’s caller memoir The Sporty One: My Life arsenic a Spice Girl will beryllium released connected September 27.