Want a Body Like Mel C? Here Are My Top Tips!

Of all the A-listers sunning themselves in the high season of the celebrity getaway, it’s been Mel C who’s made the biggest splash.

She was spotted on a boat off Ibiza this week, laughing and hugging her 6ft Australian model boyfriend Chris Dingwall. But it was her extraordinary physique, not her love life, that captured the most attention.

Living up to her Sporty Spice moniker, the 51-year-old mother-of-one had not an inch of excess fat on her. Every muscle was defined from her biceps to her quads. She even boasted rarely seen external oblique muscles, also known as side abs (as they’re on either side of your abdominals).

I’ve been a trainer for 13 years and follow a rigorous training regimen, but my body, fit as it is, doesn’t come close to being as built as Mel C’s. It’s an extreme version of the strong, lean look so many of my clients – mostly 33-55 year old women – yearn for.

Thankfully, gone are the days when women just wanted to lose weight. Now, partly due to the rise in weight-loss jabs, such as Mounjaro and Wegovy, the goal is often to build muscle – in bums, arms, legs and abs. 

Semaglutide medications help you drop fat fast, but it’s worth building muscle while on them to ensure that, when the fat does melt away, there are toned muscles underneath waiting to be revealed.

That’s not to suggest Mel C has been taking weight-loss injections. The reality is there’s no shortcut to a body like hers. 

In the past, Mel has trained with nutritionist and personal trainer James Collins – he created a personalised plan for her in the run up to the Spice Girls reunion back in 2019. Nowadays, she’s a gym regular, posting her gruelling workouts to her 1.1 million Instagram followers.

It’s clear she puts in an enormous amount of effort on a daily basis and follows a strict diet, but if you want to get abs even half as good as Mel C, then these are my top PT tips and tricks …

1. RUN JUST ONCE A WEEK

I tend to give clients five 30-60 minute workouts a week, (three for those who are busier, but I warn them that they can’t expect the same results as fast) and usually only one of those will be a steady cardio session.

Cardio is great for losing fat, but too much can also lead to muscle loss too. Endurance comes at the expense of muscle gain, so forget taking a two-hour run.

I recommend 20 minutes’ High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) a couple of times a week. These short, sharp sessions alternate between fast-paced intense exercises to get the heart pumping and short breaks. The clue’s in the name. They’re intense, but thankfully not long lasting, and the benefits are the same as if you had run miles and miles.

2. DON’T FEAR WEIGHTS

The trick to great muscle definition is compound strength training. This means committing to exercises that work the whole body (especially your core) and build muscle more effectively than isolated ab exercises like sit-ups or crunches.

You do fewer repetitions than you might in a Pilates class, but with heavier weights. Mel C regularly posts videos of her doing squats with weights and hanging leg raises. She’s a fan of push-ups, too.

I usually say, once you can hit 12 reps of an exercise with good form, it’s time to increase the weight. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t wait until it feels easy. If you can do it for 12 reps with good form, even if it’s still challenging (which it should be), pick up a heavier weight and try a set of four to six.

To get those defined leg muscles, Mel C would probably be lifting at least 40kg, but I wouldn’t advise doing anything near this. Start with 5-10kg dumbbells and always lift weights with an expert who can check you have correct posture. One of the best compound exercises for engaging the oblique muscles is the Russian twist:

Sit on the ground with your knees bent and feet flat. Hold a dumbbell between your hands. Lean back slightly so your torso is at a 45 degree angle. Engage your core and slowly rotate to either side, keeping the weight out in front of you.

3. PUT YOUR FEET UP

The most important thing to remember when getting ripped is not to overdo it. Recovery is essential. Even professional athletes take time out to ease off on their muscles.

When you look around a gym, it is easy to spot the weightlifters sitting on their phone looking as though they’re doing nothing. I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s all part of the workout. They are taking dedicated recovery time between sets. Weight training creates tiny microtears in the muscle fibres, and it’s during recovery that the body repairs and rebuilds them, making the muscles stronger and more defined. Without proper recovery, you’re just breaking down tissue without giving it the chance to rebuild.

After training, your body starts repairing the muscles, replenishing energy stores and adapting to the demands you placed on it. This process requires rest, fuel (especially protein) – and time.

Between sets of exercises, rest for 60 to 90 seconds for general strength training. If you’re lifting heavier weights, with fewer reps and higher intensity, a proper two to three-minute break is better. This gives your muscles time to recover so you can perform the next set properly.

Give yourself a two-day break between training specific muscle groups. For example, if you do a legs session on Monday, wait until Wednesday or Thursday to train legs again. In the meantime, you can work other areas like arms, chest, or back, or take a walk or an easy swim. It will improve your circulation and ease stiffness.

Sleep and food are probably the most underrated recovery tools. Without enough quality sleep or protein, the recovery process is compromised and all that amazing progress slows to a halt. So don’t overdo it!

4. WATCH WHAT YOU EAT

You can do all of the above, but your muscles won’t be visible if they’re hidden under a layer of fat.

Although Mel now keeps her dietary cards close to her chest, she’s been a fan of the 80:20 diet in the past, where you are ‘good’ 80 per cent of the time, but allow yourself a treat at the weekend.

She also follows several nutritionists on Instagram including Trish Koeslag, a women’s nutrition and fitness coach who focusses on clients over 40, as well as Zoe, the popular personalised nutrition programme that gives insights into how your body responds to food.

I’m not a fan of any restricted diet. For me there aren’t any foods that are a total no go (after all there’s nothing so tempting as what you can’t have).

Too many women my age (I’m 48) have spent their lives following fad diets in a desperate attempt

to drop a dress size. But often they’re not eating enough – especially when it comes to protein (chicken, eggs, tofu, lentils), without which it’s difficult to achieve any visible muscle.

The only thing everybody should be keeping to a minimum is processed food such as pizza and ice cream. With that in mind I recommend prioritising natural, unprocessed foods and aiming to include a good serving of protein at every meal.

To put a number on it, aim for about 1.2g to 2g of protein per kilo of body weight per day (or your goal weight, if you have lots to lose). So, for a woman who weighs 10 st, or 63 kg, you should be eating around 75-126 grams of protein (one small chicken breast has around 35g of protein).

That said, I always advise people not to get too hung up on numbers. Just getting a decent serving of protein at each meal is good enough.

If you are on semaglutide and are struggling to eat full meals, high protein snacks can be a total life-saver. Things like cold meats, boiled eggs and greek yoghurt are all great to turn to post-workout.

And if the cravings for a sugary snack won’t go away, go for it – but time it right.

When the high-intensity workout has just finished, that’s the time to have a treat. It’s when your body is primed to use carbohydrates most efficiently. The body’s energy is depleted so sugar is used and not stored as fat. Even better, it’s less likely to give you a nasty energy crash when the sugar wears off. 

Freddie’s fans turn their ire on author who revealed star’s secret love child

Author Lesley-Ann Jones has come under attack from Queen ‘loyalists’ as she prepares to publish Love, Freddie – a bombshell book based on the diaries of Freddie Mercury given to her by his alleged secret daughter. 

Jones, filming a documentary about the book for Channel 5 in Switzerland this week, is sticking to her guns ahead of publication on September 5. 

However, it’s understood that Mary Austin, the love of Freddie’s life, is planning to deny she knew anything about his daughter in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. 

And criticism of Jones, including misogynistic smears, has been circulating on a WhatsApp group of former staffers, saying ‘no one’ in the ‘inner circle’ ever heard talk of a daughter. 

One former associate writes: ‘I don’t understand why he didn’t leave his only child something in his will. 

‘I’m not saying it’s a crock, but as it’s the [SLUR DELETED] writing yet another book about a dead person, the facts are not looking good at the moment.’ 

Similar derogatory comments have been made on social media. Peter Freestone, Mercury’s live-in PA for 12 years up to his death in 1991, said this week: ‘I never saw any diaries. I never saw any child.’ 

He added: ‘I’m not saying they don’t exist… It was a surprise to me when I heard. Very much.’ 

The ‘real’ inner circle, meanwhile, are staying tight-lipped. Brian May smiled but said not a word when I asked him about the book at a Live Aid 40th anniversary event recently. 

His wife Anita Dobson has previously said: ‘I think there have always been rumours. The person to ask would be his sister, Kashmira. But even then, I think, sometimes if people keep secrets, they do really keep those secrets.’ 

Which sounds like a hint she thinks the story is right. Dobson explained her husband wants to stay ‘neutral’. 

‘He said: “People were always saying all sorts of things about Freddie. Let’s take it with a pinch of salt.”’ 

So far the Queen estate, which represents all the band members and Freddie’s sister, has not commented in any way. 

Jones told me: ‘There are a lot of extremely nasty comments being made, and some people are trying to discredit the book. 

‘What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen, and Freddie’s sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke. ‘

They cannot because, as Freddie’s daughter says, they know that it is true.’ HER new book tells of a child – referred to only as ‘B’ – conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976, a year after Bohemian Rhapsody was a hit. 

The revelation came as a shock to the singer’s fans, who have long loved and accepted him as a gay man. 

Yet the legendary showman had a number of relationships with women, including Mary Austin, whom he met when she was 19 and he was 23, before he came out. 

She remained close to Freddie for the rest of his life. There was another, later, romance, in the early 1980s, with actress Barbara Valentin. 

But the liaison with B’s mother was something Freddie reportedly kept top secret. In the book, there is a hand-written letter from Freddie’s daughter in which she says: ‘Freddie Mercury was and is my father. 

‘We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.’ 

Former child star with her eye on the prize – and Lily’s hubby.  

Who could possibly induce anyone to cheat on Lily James? Step forward rising British actress Raffey Cassidy. 

The 23-year-old will play Millie, a young woman who rolls a hand grenade into the middle of an apparently happy marriage in the movie Photo Booth, which starts filming at the end of the summer, with Rupert Friend completing the love triangle. 

Millie gets pregnant after a one night stand with a man called Ben (Friend). Meanwhile, back at home, Ben’s wife Jean (James) is struggling to have children. 

A performance artist who mines her own emotional difficulties for her art, Jean decides to invite the young woman to live with them. She offers to look after her financially…in exchange for the baby. 

Brother and sister writing team Lloyd and Spencer Harvey promise ‘electric’ performances from their three leads. 

Cassidy is that rare thing: a former child star who has made the transition to more mature roles. She played the young Snow White in Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) and also appeared in 2015’s Tomorrowland with George Clooney. 

Three years ago she was cast in Noah Baumbach’s satire White Noise alongside Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. 

And last year she won a major role as Zsófia, the selectively mute niece of Adrien Brody’s tortured architect in the Oscar-winning film The Brutalist. 

By George! He’s after another Oscar 

And they’re off! George Clooney has launched the Oscars 2026 campaigning with a long profile in Vanity Fair to plug forthcoming film Jay Kelly. 

Clooney plays a fading film star – and Adam Sandler his loyal manager – in the picture directed and co-written by Mr Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach. 

It will premiere in Venice at the end of this month and is already at the centre of a solid awards campaign in advance of its theatrical release in November. (After which it will stream on Netflix.) 

Clooney said of Sandler, best known for comedies, including Happy Gilmore 2, currently doing great numbers for the streamer: ‘He’s actually a really beautiful, wonderful actor.’ 

Warming to his theme, he said Sandler’s ‘pay cheque’ films – the ‘big goofy comedies’ – allowed him to do smaller, more artistic projects. 

‘When he does these other, beautiful, Uncut Gems kinds of movies, it reminds people that he’s not just a good comedian.’ 

Clooney, who already has two Oscars under his belt, weeps elegantly in Jay Kelly and by all accounts gives an awards-level performance of his own. 

In the meantime, what is the collective noun for films about fighting? Because there is a fracas incoming: Christy, starring ‘Good Genes’ Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin; The Smashing Machine, with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as wrestler Mark Kerr; and The Cut, starring Orlando Bloom. 

People were confidently predicting some Oscars attention for Sweeney, but that might now get lost in the noise about her American Eagle jeans ad. 

The Smashing Machine, though, which is an A24 movie and will also be in Venice, has people excited about Johnson and co-star Emily Blunt.

Forget the fjords, I’m pining for Bath 

Monty Python star John Cleese, is hoping to buy a home in Bath, close to where he grew up. 

Cleese, 85, who insists he’s ‘surprisingly poor’, has lived in Monaco in the past, and more recently in Nevis in the Caribbean, where there’s no income tax. 

He said in April he’d gifted his £1.5 million flat in Chelsea to fourth wife, Jennifer Wade, ‘to make her feel secure’. 

The pair are understood to spend most of their time in London. However, it seems they’re house hunting in the West Country. 

Speaking at Clifton College, the £19,000-a-term Bristol private school he attended as a boy, Cleese said: ‘Unquestionably, my home is the West Country. My wife and I are thinking very seriously of buying in Bath.’ 

He added: ‘When I look back at my time in Weston-super-Mare…There were a lot of very nice people having peaceful, friendly lives and being nice to each other and behaving really pretty well. And how little of that there is around these days. 

‘It’s an idea which has come from America, which is that if you are not either rich or powerful – or both – then somehow your life has been a failure. I think that is a terrible idea.’ 

Cleese bought a flat in Bath’s Royal Crescent in 2016, but it was back on the market in 2018, when he left the UK and settled in Nevis. 

He’s been complaining of penury since his 2008 divorce from third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger. 

She reportedly got a settlement of $20million and Cleese said two years ago he was still paying it off.