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| Frequently Asked Questions about Melanie's
personal life and career. |
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| 01. What’s
Mel C ’s full name?
Melanie Jayne Chisholm
02. How is her last name pronounced?
“Tchízum” (Chisholm is a Scottish name)
03. When and where was Melanie born?
On January 12th, 1974 (she’s a Capricorn), on a Saturday at
Whiston Hospital, in Merseyside, Liverpool, England. She grew up
in Originally Rainhill (a Liverpool suburb) and in Widnes.
04. Melanie has a Celtic tattoo on her arm. Is she religious?
Melanie didn’t have the cross tattooed for being a religious
person but because the Celtic cross represents protection. "I'm
a Christian but I'm more spiritual now. I do a lot of Yoga. I believe
in a God but I think it's more within. Our generation can't see
any good in religion when it causes such destruction and war."
05. Are Melanie’s parents still married?
No. They split up when Melanie was 3. Later, her mother Joan got
married with Dennis O’Neill and her father Alan Chisholm married
Carol. Now she has 6 half-brothers: Paul, Jarrod, Stuart, Liam,
Declan and Emma. As she has always lived with her mother, she’s
closest to Paul, son of Joan and Den.
06. Does Melanie have or used to have any nicknames?
In her childhood, her friends at school used to call her Holland
(because she has small breasts and is almost “flat”,
just like the Netherlands' geography). When she was in the Spice
Girls she was called Sporty Spice and Mel C. Besides those, people
also call her Mel (although she doesn’t like it very much,
she prefers Melanie), Mellie, Melly, Chiz, Chizzy… and she
also signs Frau C (Miss C in German) and Miss C when she posts on
her official board!
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| 07.
What’s Melanie’s height and what’s her foot size?
According to most of the sources, 5 foot and 6 inches. And her foot
size is 6 (US), 39 (Europe).
08. What’s the color of Melanie’s eyes?
Hazel. At the I Turn To You and Holler videos is possible to notice
that her eyes are part green and part brown, visible characteristic
even on Melanie’s dolls.
09. Did Melanie finish her studies?
Yes. Melanie finished her studies and passed nine GCSEs (General
Certificate of Secundary Education). She got into a dance college
in Kent, the Doreen Bird Performance Arts College when she was 16
and took 3 years to graduate in ballet and jazz. She got professional
qualification to be a ballet teacher. Before that, Mel went to Southgates
Infant School in Runcorn, Brookvale Junior School in Widnes, Fairfield
Junior School in Widnes and Fairfield Country High in Widnes.
10. Did Melanie have a job before joining the Spice Girls?
Yes. Melanie’d worked in a fish and chips restaurant and as
a sheets collector in a hotel. After college she was a finalist
at the audition for Cats and Heatcliff but couldn’t attend
the finals because she was suffering from tonsillitis.
11. Does Melanie speak other languages besides English?
Melanie took French classes at school and knows a bit of Spanish.
She says she’d love to learn more languages and in every country
she goes to she learns a few sentences to speak during the concerts.
12. Does Melanie have kids?
No, but she wants to be a mum one day. |
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13. Is she married
or has she ever been married?
No. Melanie dates the director of civil construction Thomas Starr
for 5 years. Even though he’s English they met at a vacation
to Barbados in December 2001. When he’s not working, Thomas
accompanies Melanie in her concerts throughout Europe and ends up
having contact with the fans, and is always very nice. The two of
them bought a country house in Wales in 2004, despite still having
their own houses in England. In the beginning of 2006, the media
started to report that their relationship was over, but Mel soon
denied the information.
14. Who were Melanie’s previous boyfriends?
Before fame, Mel dated Ian McNight, Keith McNight, Ryan Wilson (according
to interviews, she had fast romances with Jonny L, Gary and Andy).
After becoming famous, she dated the singers Kavana, Robbie Williams,
J Brown, Dan Williams, the producer Jake Davies and the movie director
Dan Cadan. Rumours say (though she denies them) that she had short
relationships with Damon Albarn, Anthony Kiedis, the football player
Jason McAtter, the personal trainer Gregory Joujon Roche, the TV
presenter Paul Byatt and the pilot Jason Plato.
15. Does Melanie have any pets?
Fishes and cats. Melanie can't have dogs cause she’s allergic
to them. Her favourite animal is the giraffe and she’s considered
adopting one at the London zoo!
16. Melanie has got 10 tattoos… does she
have any scars?
Mel has a scar on her forehead (she hit her head in a chair when
she was 3) and on her knee (fell off a bike). She also has another
one on her right knee due to the surgery for reconstruction of 3
ligaments injured in a judo fight at the TV show The Games, in 2003.
The ligaments were reconstructed with cartilage and small screwers.
17. Melanie is known for her love for football. Has she
ever really played?
She was part of the Watford female team, the Rickmansworth for a
season, after finishing college. Melanie is a Liverpool supporter,
that’s why her favourite colour is red.
18. What’s Mel’s hobby?
Cooking, eating Chinese and Indian food, practicing Yoga, football
(playing and watching).
19. Does she admire any singer?
Melanie loves Blur, Stevie Wonder, Madonna and Fiona Apple. The
first big concert she attended was from Madonna’s The Girlie
Show tour, in 1993. |
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| 20. Besides the tattoos,
has Melanie ever had any piercing or other type of body art?
Melanie has had a nose piercing and two on her ear (she has already
taken all of them off), and a golden cape on one of her teeth. She
took them all off because she got bored with her look.
21. Does Mel collect anything?
Melanie collects shoes and scarves.
When she was a kid, she could only have one pair of trackers each
year, to go to school. Joan would give it as a gift every September
and she’d use them for a whole year. After she became one
of the Spice Girls, Melanie started buying all Nikes and Adidas
she’d found and even started getting some for free from the
companies once they’d known about her passion for shoes. When
on tour Melanie usually take only 3 pairs of trackers in her suitcase
but she can’t resist the ones she finds in the stores and
ends up getting back home with 30 more pairs! The result of all
this buying is a huge collection that in 1999 exceed the number
250 including trackers, social shoes and boots.
As for the scarves they started as a need, to keep her throat warm
before concerts and performances. As time went by, Melanie started
using them as a fashion item, varying the prints and colours to
match her outfit. Now the scarves became the fans' main choice to
present Melanie with, helping her to increase the collection!
22. What does Melanie hate?
Smoking, dishonest and disorganized people.
23. Does she know how to drive? What cars has she already
had?
Melanie only learned how to drive when she already was a Spice Girl
and her first car was a Fiesta. Her favourite car is the BMW. She
has already had a BMW Z3 and a X5. Now she drives a Lexus RX400h
(hybrid). Each of the Spice Girls won a Mercedes for free in August
1997, but Mel gave hers to her half-brother Paul and he crashed
the car only a few weeks after getting it!
24. Is it true that Melanie suffered from depression and
eating disorders?
Melanie was treated for depression with the drug Prozac, medical
counseling and therapy. She had anorexia when trying to keep herself
underweight in the Spice Girls, and in the beginning of her solo
career she started binge eating.
25. Why did Melanie cut her hair so short in 1999 during
the promotion of Northern Star?
She explains it herself: "What happened was I decided to change
my hair colour and through changing the colour of my hair it got
damaged and so I ended up having it cut short which wasn't a problem
'cause I'm not , you know, I'm not that bothered about my appearance.
But the funny thing is the media really read into it and analised
it like, you know, I'm breaking away from the way I used to be and
I've really changed and I've not. So in some respects they've done
me a favour by giving me this whole new image change without me
even trying. And in another respect it is a little bit annoying." |
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| 26.
Does Mel have a half-brother who is a pilot?
Yes, Paul O’Neill competes at British Touring Car Championship
(BTCC). When he is not running, he works at the furniture shop Ikea.
Melanie spent from £40,000 to £50,000 a year sponsoring
his career when he had just started.
27. Melanie owns the record company Red Girl Records. Did
she get fired from Virgin Records before putting together her independent
label?
The newspaper The Sun reported that her last 3 singles hadn’t
sold enough to cover all the money spent in marketing for the album
Reason and that Virgin Records didn’t think Melanie had anymore
potential to continue.
According to an official statement from Virgin, on January 10th
2003, the reasons of the split were the disappointing sales and
the stress, that made Melanie not want to renew her contract with
the company.
A notice from the moderator of her official board in the beginning
of 2004 made it clear that the decision of the split was taken from
both sides: "We were having discussions over the last few months
but all agreed it was best to part ways. Melanie began work on new
songs before Christmas and will continue writing when she returns
from her holidays. Melanie wants to release her own records in future
and will not be looking to sign a new deal."
During the recording of the Live Hits DVD on August 31st 2006, Melanie
who was finally making her dream of recording a DVD come true under
Red Girl Records, said on stage: "Thanks Virgin Records for
dropping me!"
28. Did Red Girl Productions exist before Red Girl Records?
Yes. Red Girl Productions is a Ltd company registred by Melanie
since 1999. It was only in 2004 that Red Girl Records came to life,
founded by Melanie with the support of her manager Nancy Phillips,
from 45 Management.
29. Is it true that the song Emmit Remus by the Red Hot
Chili Peppers is about Melanie?
Anthony Kiedis confirmed that the song Emmit Remus was made for
Melanie. He admitted when he was asked in an interview for Q Magazine,
in 2001. "I started writing the lyrics for Emit Remmus before
I ever met Melanie — but I finished them after I'd known her
a bit." And in his autobiography Anthony mentions Melanie and
also affirms that she inspired the song.
30. What about the song Closer To Me, from Five?
J Brown wrote Closer To Me to Melanie with the other members of
Five . The song is like an apology for everything he did that was
bad for her. To show even more regret for making Melanie suffer
with the end of the relationship J also gave an interview for Loaded
magazine in which he talks about how the romance was and how he
made the decision to end it.
31. Was Melanie’s Angel tattoo made because of Robbie
William’s song Angels?
That rumor came at the time of release of the song when it seemed
like Robbie had made it about Mel. Afterwards, Melanie said that
the tattoo was in honour to her grandparents who had died from cancer.
They are angels to her just like she sings on “Angel On My
Shoulder”, a song dedicated to them. |
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| 32.
Who is Ying?
Ying was hired by the Spice Girls to be their personal assistant
in the beginning of the group. Chai Ying Yau was born in Rhyl, Gales
and her father is Chinese.
When Melanie went solo, she “stole” Ying from the Spice
Girls to be her own PA just like she did with Paul and Fergus, both
members of the Spice band that went to play for Mel.
Always working together, Ying and the hair stylist Jenny Roberts
became Mel’s best friends.
The affection between Melanie and Ying was even interpreted as homosexuality,
especially after both of them spent a holyday together in Barbados
in 2000, where they sunbathed rubbing sunscreen on each other’s
backs and walked hand in hand.
33. Where does Melanie live?
In England. She has an apartment in London and another one in Liverpool.
In 2004 she bought a country house in Wales with her boyfriend Thomas
Starr to spend weekends and holydays.
34. Has Melanie ever posed nude?
The only photographer ever to get Melanie to take her clothes off
was her friend and singer Bryan Adams whose hobby is the photography.
Bryan included the pictures in his book Heaven, which has the same
name of one of his songs. Besides Melanie, the book brings pictures
of other naked celebrities and models, and the profits with the
sales were donated to a breast cancer charity. Melanie did two pictures:
one on which only her head, hands and shoulders appear and other
that shows Melanie’s face profile and the phoenix tattoo on
her back. Melanie accepted Bryan’s proposal to take the pictures
but imposed as a condition not to show much of her body, as she
doesn't want naked pictures.
So those can’t be considered as nude ones, which means there
aren’t any pictures like that. All nude pictures of her found
on the web are montages.
35. Has Melanie ever worn braces?
Although Melanie has never explained in interviews, her teeth went
through a transformation in 2002 when she appeared at the Playstation
2 launch party without the famous gold tooth. Since 1997 she wore
the gold cape in one of her teeth, which she took off only in 2002.
In 2005, Melanie answered to a fan at her official forum saying
that she’s never used braces: "I haven't worn braces
but I've had my wisdom teeth out and it killed!" |
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36. Did Melanie officially leave the Spice Girls?
No. Geri Halliwell was the only girl to officialy leave the group.
Melanie’s solo career began when the group needed to take
a forced break due to the birth of Victoria’s and Mel B’s
babies in the beginning of 1999. Melanie didn’t want to
take a break herself and decided to release Northern Star as a
project apart from the Spice Girls.
In the Christmas of 1999, after having already launched her solo
career, Melanie joined the Spice Girls to work on their third
album and on a mini-tour for the end of the year. She began to
feel uncomfortable inside the group: "Once again, you had
people not wanting to rehearse, disagreements, the usual stuff.
I thought to myself, ‘I don’t need this’."
Even then, Melanie still recorded Forever, their third album released
in 2000.
After seven years, in which Melanie totally dedicated herself
to her solo career, the group decided to reunite, in 2007, for
a final goodbye with all the members: Melanie C, Mel B, Emma Bunton,
Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell. Despite having demonstrated
that she wouldn't like to come back with the group, Melanie agreed
to join the girls for the release of a Greatest Hits album and
a farewell world tour.
37. Who is Guy Oseary? Melanie appears in several pictures
at movie premieres with him…
Guy Oseary is Madonna’s right-arm and is very close to Melanie.
He went to visit Melanie when she was recording Northern Star
in Los Angeles and invited her to the Playstation 2 Party from
Maverick Records, Madonna’s label.
38. How does Melanie take care of her voice?
Melanie’s biggest fear is losing her voice on stage and
in 2003, she declared to Soundbuzz: "I took things more seriously
than everyone else because singing was more important to me. I
was the only one who put her voice before other things. I've always
looked after my voice because I take my singing seriously. That's
why I've never smoked, I always warm up, I don't go out and I
don't drink when I'm singing. I want to be a great singer and
sing for the rest of my life." The vocal coach Carrie Grant
trains Melanie’s voice.
39. Does she usually use playback or does she sing live?
In her solo career, Melanie has never done a concert using playback.
She says: "I think when you go to see bands you don't go
to see them mime." As for TV shows, Melanie sometimes mimes:
"I've learned that it's sometimes better, to mime. When you
got a packed schedule and there is no chance to do a soundcheck
or your own crew isn't responsible for the sound then it does
make more sense although I wish I could sing live everywhere."
40. Is Melanie into fashion?
Melanie isn’t used to follow tendencies when it comes to
looks but that doesn’t mean she is not a modern person.
Her attitude is to feel comfortable with her state of spirit.
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41. In the photos from 1996 to 1999 is possible to notice
a Claddagh ring on Melanie’s right hand, in her middle finger
besides her Spice Girls ring. What does it mean?
While the Spice Girls’ ring meant union between them and
was given to her as a gift from Geri Halliwell, the Claddagh ring
indicated if Melanie was in a relationship or not. That ring shows
two hands grabbing a heart with a crown. The heart symbolises
love; the hand symbolises friendship and the crown, fidelity.
Using the ring on the right hand with the heart facing the outwards
means that the person is still waiting for a great love. Using
it on the same hand but with the heart facing inwards means you
are considering a friendship or a love.
Using on the left hand with the heart facing inwards means you’ve
found eternal love. Until 2000 Melanie had always used it on her
right hand, facing outwards. In 2000 she decided to take off all
her rings including the solitary diamond her grandmother gave
her that she used on her left hand.
42. Does Melanie want to work as an actress?
Melanie revealed in 2005 that she’d like to work in the
theater one day: "There's been a kind of cool resurgence
in the West End, and I think definitely if there was a part that
I felt I could do really well, at some point in my career it's
something I'd like to do."
43. Does Melanie play any instrument?
She says: "I do play guitar and piano, both very badly. I
would love to play guitar on stage but I'd need a lot more practice
and I probably would be too nervous."
"I like to write songs by just strumming chords with somebody
and starting a melody. In the back of my mind I think I could
do a fantastic ambient track but is it going to work live? I don't
like to put any restrictions on my work, but sometimes you think,
this is going to be good live and so you go more in that direction
and really think about that."
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