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The Spice Girl on keeping fit, bonding with her daughters and how she has made her self-belief bulletproof<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/1.jpg” title_text=”1″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
With her iconic leopard-print outfits, larger than life laugh and infectious energy, Mel B, aka Scary Spice, was an inspiration to a generation. Along with the rest of the Spice Girls, championing women via \u201cgirl power\u201d was at the core of what they represented.<\/p>\n
But almost three decades since Wannabe<\/em>\u00a0stormed the charts, Mel, 48, has stayed true to that message and isn\u2019t giving self deprecation any attention.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/2.jpg” title_text=”2″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Mel and her eldest daughter Phoenix<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Mel, who is working with Pour Moi on their Own Your Confidence campaign, says, \u201cI\u2019ve always felt confident in my own skin. I was born a working class kid in Leeds in the 1970s. My dad was black \u2013 from Nevis \u2013 and my mum was a blue-eyed, blonde-haired English rose. I was brown. My skin was different to most of the other kids I went to school with, so I had to learn very fast from a young age to be proud of who I was, to own my heritage, my \u2019fro, and my body.\u201d<\/p>\n Mel even withstood the pressures of being on TV shows including The X Factor<\/em>, America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em> and The Masker Singer Australia<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 despite a lack of diversity.<\/p>\n She says, \u201cBack in the \u201990s there were less women who looked like me in the public eye and now there is a much bigger melting pot. I think, in a lot of ways, we are more open [about body shapes], but on the other hand we are bombarded with so many more images of \u2018perfect\u2019 physiques. But women\u2019s relationships with their bodies have always very complicated.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”quote-with-bg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_font=”|600|||||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_3_font_size=”30px” background_color=”#dd1881″ custom_padding=”12px|14px|6px|14px|false|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”quote-with-bg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_font=”|600|||||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_3_font_size=”30px” background_color=”#dd1881″ custom_padding=”12px|14px|6px|14px|false|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Nothing could have rocked Mel\u2019s confidence more than during her 10-year marriage to film producer Stephen Belafonte. After their split in 2017 Mel accused him of emotional and physical abuse \u2013 something he denied. Rather than hiding away, Mel became an ambassador for Women\u2019s Aid, and was awarded an MBE in 2022 for her work helping vulnerable women \u2013 the latest example of the enduring ethos of girl power.<\/p>\n Mel met her fianc\u00e9 Rory McPhee in 2018 and credits him with helping her feel \u201cmore confident than ever\u201d \u2013 and it shows. She says, \u201cI love my curves, I love the fact that I\u2019m physically strong, I love the fact I have brown skin.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/3.jpg” title_text=”3″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n She never talks about diets in front of her girls<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n With the constant bombardment of images of the \u201cperfect body\u201d on social media, Mel is keen to instil the same sense of confidence in her three daughters, Phoenix, 24, from her marriage to Jimmy Gulzar, Angel, 16, whom she shares with Eddie Murphy, and Madison, 12, from her marriage to Stephen.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell them they\u2019re beautiful. I never talk about diets. I talk about health, fitness and strength,\u201d Mel says. \u201cWe live in an era where girls \u2013 and boys \u2013 are constantly comparing themselves to perfect images all the time. There is no such thing as the perfect body. To me it\u2019s about being fit, healthy, confident and loving the skin you\u2019re in!\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/4.jpg” title_text=”4″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n She\u2019s engaged to hairdresser Rory<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Mel also loves all of her outfits from those Spice Girls days and she shares this passion with her eldest daughter. She says, \u201cPhoenix is never happier than when she is rummaging around in my Spice Girl stuff \u2013 which she calls my vintage wardrobe \u2013 and I still wear catsuits, leopard prints and everything I wore back then.\u201d<\/p>\n Mel has previously admitted exercise was used as escapism during tough times. Now, in her forties, she incorporates weights into her regime and mixes this with regular runs, high-intensity training, 20 minutes on a spin bike as well as ice baths, saunas and walks with her two Rottweilers.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/5.jpg” title_text=”5″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n The Spice Girls in their heyday<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n She says, \u201cIt\u2019s harder staying in shape, but I feel so much better when I push myself to exercise, to eat right and to just feel like I am totally comfortable in my skin. I\u2019m never going to have the look I did as a teenager, but this body has given me three children, it\u2019s been through a lot of ups and downs so I\u2019m very grateful to it.\u201d<\/p>\n But perhaps what\u2019s most impressive about Mel is her unbreakable attitude, she adds, \u201cI love the fact that I\u2019m still standing after going through so much in my life, including an abusive marriage \u2013 I\u2019m a survivor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n\u2018I still wear my<\/h3>\n
Spice Girls catsuit!\u2019<\/h3>\n