There couldn’t be a better place to interview Mel B than back where it all began. The Spice Girl is settled into a suite at the St Pancras Renaissance, the very same hotel where five exuberant young women bounded up the stairs for the Wannabe video and descended as pop icons for a generation.
Does being here take her back? ‘Yes! Although I’m dressed like Geri today,’ laughs Mel, patting her chic cream trouser suit. Then, with immaculate timing, she pokes out a leopard-print heel. ‘Ahh, there she is.’
You can take the girl out of the Spice Girls (Mel has said that there are no plans for a full-blown reunion), but part of her will always be Scary. ‘I’ll always be a Spice Girl,’ she says. ‘Till the day I die. Our bond is unbreakable. It’s a sisterhood and only the five of us know what it’s like to go through that, at such a young age. We still talk all the time. I wouldn't be sitting here now if it wasn't for them.’
Spice World was a place where Mel, a ‘working-class, mixed-race girl from Leeds’, could be herself. She stood her ground when stylists suggested she straighten her hair (‘I totally ignored it’) and paid zero heed when a makeup artist requested she stay out of the sun. ‘I was asked not to get so tanned because there wasn’t enough of a foundation range,’ Mel recalls. ‘I ignored that, too.’
‘Thankfully, diversity in beauty is so much better now,’ she adds. ‘I grew up when there was no foundation for people with my skin colour. Now, we have every shade. As a mother, I know my kids don’t feel excluded from certain products – that’s huge.’
At 51 and a mum of three (Phoenix, 27, Angel, 19, and Madison, 14), Mel’s life looks different from her globetrotting days. Home is a ‘magical farm with animals’ in the Leeds countryside, which she shares with her husband, hairdresser Rory McPhee. (‘If I feel stressed I’ll seek out my goat – I swear she bleats M-e-e-e-l,’ she laughs.) She’s also an ardent activist for domestic abuse awareness, for which she was awarded an MBE in 2022. ‘I’ve gone from Girl Power to Women Power,’ she says.
Menopause is another topic Mel lends her voice to. ‘I don’t think we talk about it enough. When I first started going through it, just before I turned 50, I was like, “What is this? Why am I forgetting stuff?” The brain fog, the night sweats. And why are we so embarrassed by it? I said to my mum, “Did you go through this?” and she said, “Oh, we don’t talk about that.” My eldest is 27 and I want to be able to say to her, “This is what menopause looks like. Make sure that at that age that you have support – I’m right here and I’ve gone through it.”’
HRT was a route Mel didn’t want to go down, but just as she was considering how to manage her symptoms, she was offered a chance to try Revive Collagen’s menopause range, for which she’s now its global ambassador.
‘I’d have been going on my own exploration journey anyway, but it fell into my lap and just happened to be perfect for me. It’s eased everything. I swear by it,’ she says. ‘I take Menopause Max in the morning – my husband brings a sachet with my coffee – then Menopause Beauty Sleep at night. It’s that easy.’
Being diagnosed with ADHD has also helped Mel navigate life’s changing seasons. ‘It’s definitely helped me understand myself because I now know my brain works differently to other people’s,’ she tells us. ‘I’m very open about it, so people know that I might get distracted or hyper-focused. Knowledge is power. You have to make the effort to understand conditions that affect you.’
She’s always been a curious soul when it comes to her wellbeing, she tells us. ‘Luckily I’d learned about meditation and reiki healing right before the Spice Girls burst on to the scene, so I’ve always been quite grounded like that.’ She’d even give the other girls reiki treatments on the road. ‘They would say it was helpful, but I was like, “I’m not going to give you any more healing. I need to heal myself.” I was knackered!’
Beyond seeking sanctuary with her goat, Mel now has a whole toolkit to manage life’s pressures. ‘Going through the menopause, you’re more prone to getting anxious and stressed,’ she says, explaining that learning how to sleep better has been a big part of unlocking the wellbeing puzzle for her.
‘I listen to NDSR, which is non sleep, deep rest. It’s a form of guided meditation,’ she says. ‘My husband and I have different sleep temperatures – we use something called a Sleep Eight Pod. He has his part of the mattress quite warm. I have mine quite cool at night time. And I also take my Revive Menopause Beauty Sleep, which really helps.’
Hot and cold therapy also help her to stay in balance, she says. ‘I like my saunas, and I do like an ice bath, or even just turning the shower cold. I'm really good at it, because I just think of the benefits I’m reaping from resetting my nervous system. It’s about the vagus nerve. It’s good to really understand how your body works.’
Exercise has always been a vital outlet for her buzzing energy, long before she’d heard of ADHD, but it’s taken on a new importance during her hormonal changes. ‘I’ve been a dancer from when I was younger and really hyperactive. I’ve always liked movement. When I’m not working out, I’m always busy with the animals. I have a massive 15-acre forest and Rottweilers. Just hiking up hills with them is a real workout.’
She pairs that sort of freeform cardio with more structured workouts back at the farm. ‘I did get into Bikram yoga for a bit. Now, I'm really into weights because I can think, as you get older, especially if you're menopausal, it's really good to build up that muscle and strength.’
No wonder, then, that she’s in sensational shape in her 50s. ‘My Spice Girls stuff still fits, but it was always a bit stretchy,’ she says. ‘Even now, I’m never out of leopard print. My eldest says I’m vintage now. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but I’m just like, “Stay away from my wardrobe, they’re my clothes!”'
Indeed. There’s only one Scary Spice, and Mel is owning her more than ever. ‘I’m stuck in the 90s – I’ve still got my dark lip liner, curly hair and flared bottoms, and I love it,’ she grins. ‘I’m 51, I’ve made it this far and I’m proud of it. This is me.’
Mel’s beauty secrets
On self-care
‘I like mixing up my own oils, using Neom’s Happiness oil and Neal’s Yard Women’s Balance oil. I like doing dress-up when my friends come round, giving them facials and trying makeup on. I’m quite girlie-girl like that.’
On makeup
‘I feel very comfortable glammed up, but also very comfortable barefaced in wellies. When I’m not working, I hardly wear makeup apart from lip balm. But I’ve invested in a makeup room at home because my daughters steal my makeup and now it’s all lined up. My makeup artist was in awe when she saw it.’
On ageing
‘Why are we always so embarrassed about getting older? Being in my 50s doesn’t bother me. It’s not a milestone – it’s a celebration.’
On skincare
‘I take my Revive Collagen and make a point of taking my makeup off. I like LED masks and I’m good at using SPF, moisturising and oiling my face. I like a mix of things – Zo Skin Health, Augustinus Bader, Garnier sheet masks. I guess it’s just going that extra mile, but it’s not a long routine.’
On her hair
‘I’ll actually be coming out with my own curly textured hair product because I end up using five different things for my hair. I want one thing that works. Every curly girl has that problem.’
On treatments
‘Anything I’d never do? I’m 51 – never say never! But I look after my skin and don’t like to mess around with it. When I was living in LA, I tried a vampire facial. I didn't like the sight of the blood and I don't even think it did anything.’
