Mel C: Lonely Spice Girl, Struggled with Depression

has admitted her deep loneliness during her years contributed to her battle with .

The singer, 52, wrote about her clinical depression diagnosis in her 2022 memoir, revealing how she when the Spice Girls split in 2000 and her issues with binge drinking and binge eating intensified.

In a new interview, Mel has explained how her depression 'was very environmental' and stemmed in part from feeling 'lonely'.

At the height of the Spice Girls' fame in the late nineties, most of Mel's bandmates were settled in relationships. Victoria had married and welcomed her first child with by 1999, married first husband Jimmy Gulzar in 1998 and also had her first child whilst began her romance with her now-husband in 1999.

was meanwhile enjoying a string of high profile romances, leading Mel to admit she felt left behind.

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast she said being single 'has been quite a big theme of my adult life, really. It was a long time before I was in a long-term relationship.'

She insisted that she never dated a fan, explaining that the perception of sex and fame going hand in hand was wide of the mark: 'It's completely different. I mean, don't get me wrong, other people had a better success rate than I did,' the popstar explained.

'You know, like historically with boy bands or rock bands, it's like, "oh, you know, pick a member of the crowd... bring her back". Our gigs weren't like that.'

'They were full of young girls and gays, which are the best audience. You just don't get any action. But it was quite lonely for me at times.'

'I think there was many times in the band when we were working together where I was the only one without a partner... I would have liked to have dated. I had a dry spell. That's what we call it.'

She added that her depression came from 'the experiences that I'd had, and just getting to that point where I couldn't continue living the way I was living.'

'That was a really long road back to health, and I never really stopped. It was a different time as well because I probably would have benefited to go off and have some time to heal, but I was touring and promoting my solo stuff.'

Mel did have some high profile romances in the nineties, including a brief, month-long fling with Robbie Williams in 1997 at the height of their '90s pop fame. 

In her 2022 memoir, Mel writes about how she was left heartbroken by Robbie after he 'behaved badly' with her, claiming that the Take That star led her on and then 'abruptly' dropped her, which left her heartbroken.

'It was a million years ago and lasted two seconds. Oh God, that sounds really bad. Oh, well,' she told Louis Theroux.

Mel went on to have a four-month romance in 2000 with another boyband star - J Brown from 5ive, with the star admitting she is still friends with her 'lovely' ex. 

'I've not spoken to him for a while actually, but he's an ex I've remained friends with. I don't remain friends with many exes, but he's a lovely boy,' she said.

'I saw Robbie recently. I mean, God, we were kids. Do you know what I mean? It's like we're talking like, twenty-odd years ago. Nearly thirty years ago. It's a long time.'

Fast forward three decades and Mel went public with model boyfriend Chris Dingwall in 2024 after months of speculation about their romance.

She was previously in a seven-year relationship with her former manager Joe Marshall, which ended in 2015.  She is also mum to daughter Scarlett, 17, whose dad is her former partner, Thomas Starr.

She recently opened up about her future with Chris - and whether wedding bells could be in their plans, telling The Times: 

'It's something I didn't think would be part of my story, but I'm so happy with Chris. Maybe it is something that will be in my life.'