Mel B 'never would have been in the Spice Girls' had it not been for this one person
The 49-year-old pop star found global fame as a member of the world's best-selling girl group in the late 1990s alongside Geri Halliwell, Melanie C, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham, but only found a "passion for performance" because there was a cheap class in her hometown of Leeds at a time when her parents could not afford anything else.
She told Living Yorkshire magazine: "Like I say I've grown up being very honest and telling it as it is, which served me well both as a Spice Girl and as a judge on shows from America's Got Talent to Masked Singer in Australia and X-Factor in the UK. As a hyperactive seven-year-old I was taught dance in a local community centre by Jean Pearce. Lessons cost about 50 pence as my parents would not have been able to afford it otherwise. Those dance lessons - I was also in the first ever intake for the Northern School of Contemporary Dance - gave me a passion for performance and I would probably never have been in the Spice Girls had it not been for lovely Jean."
The 'I Want You Back' singer has been taken all over the world by her career, but now lives back in Yorkshire on a farm and hasn't found anything else that can compare to the countryside view she wakes up to every morning.
She said: "Yorkshire people are the best because they have the greatest sense of humour, they love a good time, and they are not afraid to tell it like it is. But I now live on a farm way out in the countryside, and I wake up every day with my goats, my hens, my ducks and my three dogs and spend as much time as I can outside because it is just beautiful - you cannot beat a Yorkshire view."
The former 'America's Got Talent' judge previously revealed that she has a shed on her farm that she has decked out to celebrate her heyday with the 'Wannabe' hitmakers.
Speaking on the 'Mad, Sad and Bad' podcast, she told host Paloma Faith: "I go up to the field and I spend all day with my chickens and my goats, and I've got this little shed that I've got a Union Jack and leopard print on.
"And I just sit there and I stare at my animals and be by myself, and I love it.
"There's always been a bit of that in me, because I like the silence and the stillness. Because when I'm out and about, I'm like this, so you can't be like this all the time … I'll just pretend I've lost my phone. I'll go and sit with the animals for hours."
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'There were certain parts of my experience that were difficult for me to unzip. On reflection, it was important to do that, and to know I can be a source of comfort for people who went through similar things. That certainly felt like a good thing to do, even if it was hard. 'It's almost like closing a chapter in my life. It's acknowledging the past – the good and the bad - and looking forward to the next phase of life.' When the Spice Girls called it quits in 2000, Chisholm focused on her solo career. She's released eight albums since 1999 and is in the process of adding the final touches to an album she's been working on for the last two years with English producer Richard 'Biff' Stannard, who's written many songs for Kylie Minogue. 'My new album has been a real labour of love,' says Chisholm. 'It's uplifting and I've had a lot of fun in the dance genre. I am leaning into the club world and my sporty side, which taps into different aspects of my personality.' Chisholm has relished watching Kylie's career boom as the Aussie singer has traversed her 50s, hence her decision to team with Stannard for her own club renaissance. 'Biff helped push Kylie even further into the stratosphere – it's been amazing to see,' she says. It's clear that Chisholm is embracing what Victoria Beckham, now an internationally renowned fashion designer, refers to as 'living life from the fifth floor'. 'When I turned 50 last year, I didn't feel concerned about it too much,' says Chisholm. 'And now, a year on, I've embraced all the positive things about getting older. The physical negatives of being this age are that you wake up with more aches in the morning, but having wisdom and feeling blessed to be alive is such a gift. I am focusing on that. I spent a lot of time being hard on myself, and I'm done with that.' As the 30th anniversary looms for Spice, the band's 1996 debut album, so does the talk of a reunion. The album sold more than 23 million copies worldwide and Wannabe reached No.1 in 37 countries, so the pressure is on to mark the occasion. The band has reunited several times in recent years, including for the closing ceremony at the 2012 London Olympics. And in 2019 there was a tour of the UK and Ireland, though without Victoria Beckham due to her fashion commitments. The five members discuss band matters regularly via a private WhatsApp group, figuring what might be possible for the milestone. 'And there are subgroups within the group,' says Chisholm, laughing. 'I definitely know there is a chat group that doesn't contain me, but somewhere else we keep Ginger or Posh out. Like all friendship groups, we have many ways of communicating.' Chisholm is reunion-ready, still holding onto some of those iconic outfits from the '90s in her mother's attic. 'I wish I had kept more, but I am not a hoarder,' she says. Loading There's also talk of a fashion collaboration next year, but for now she's focusing on new music and leaning into the pleasure of finding love again. 'I have enjoyed getting to know my boyfriend's family and friends – it feels like an extended family to me,' she says. Her Australian boyfriend, Bondi-based model and filmmaker Chris Dingwall, is also giving her a new perspective. (Chisholm has a 16-year-old daughter, Scarlett, with a previous partner, property developer Thomas Starr; they split in 2012.) It took meeting Dingwall, and spending time with him in the Aussie sun, to slow down from her busy pace. 'I am a bit of a workaholic,' she says. 'I decided last year, when I met my boyfriend, that I do have an incredible life. My work enables me to travel and I love what I do. It used to be all work and not a lot of play. I am changing that. 'I saw Barbra Streisand interviewed about her book recently, and the interviewer asked her, 'What is there left to do?' 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