Melanie Blatt: Strictly Shattered My Confidence

says the lifetime she'd spent working on her self-esteem took little more than two hours to destroy after she signed up for the Come Dancing special. 

Paired with British ballroom dancer , the All Saints star was one of six celebrities to take part in last year's festive spin-off, pre-recorded and aired annually by the on Christmas Day. 

But she says the special, won by presenter and her professional dance partner , was a chastening experience that shattered her confidence and left her feeling emotionally raw. 

'I felt extremely vulnerable,' Blatt, 50, told the April edition of Good Housekeeping UK. 

'It’s taken me 50 years to feel as good as I’ve ever felt about myself and Strictly stripped it away from me. 

'Nothing dodgy went on - I think they’re on their best behaviour - but I just didn’t feel comfortable in a dress.' 

The singer was approached by Strictly producers just three years after All Saints, the notoriously dysfunctional girl-band she helped found in 1993, broke up for the third and final time. 

Along with close friends Shaznay Lewis and sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton, Blatt became a household name after scoring a number four hit with their second single, I Know Where It's At, in 1997. 

Even greater success would follow, with subsequent singles Never Ever, Under The Bridge - a cover of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers classic - and Pure Shores all climbing to number one on the UK singles chart. 

But Blatt says she was deeply embarrassed by the band's mainstream musical direction and enormous commercial appeal, having been influenced by a variety of credible hip hop and R&B artists. 

'I wanted to work with Timbaland and ,' she recalled. 'If it was left to me, I’d be a carbon copy of those artists! 

'I didn’t want to release Pure Shores - I was always making a fuss, I was always upset - and I was wrong. It became our biggest song. 

'I’m more comfortable with hearing  songs now, but I spent many, many years feeling ashamed about being in a pop band.' 

Internal pressure would inevitably follow personal shame after Blatt and bandmate Nicole discovered they were both pregnant. 

'Nic and I took our pregnancy tests together in a hotel room in Canada,' she recalled. 'It was the best night ever... then the story got out and spread like wildfire. 

'There was talk of how we could ruin the band. We were letting the other girls down.'

Blatt and former partner Stuart Zender, a bass player with Jamiroquai, would eventually welcome daughter Lilyella, now 27,  on November 20, 1998. 

'I’d only been dating Lily’s dad [Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender] for a couple of months and the pregnancy was unplanned, but I knew that having the baby was absolutely the right thing for me,' she said. 

'Nic decided to have an abortion, but we didn’t really discuss it because we didn’t have the communication skills to do so. I don’t think we’ve ever spoken about it, to this day.'

The group ultimately disbanded in 2001, but would reform five years later after signing a new record deal with Parlophone, a move that would lead to the release of their third album, Studio 1. 

But the reunion would be short lived. After a second split in 2008 it would be another five years before they announced another comeback, released another album - Red Flag, in 2016 - and parted ways for a second time.

'It was always a difficult relationship between the four of us,' Blatt said. 'For a start, you’ve got two sisters. Nic and I were best friends when we were 11, then Shaz and I were best friends… we could never get it right.' 

The band reformed for a final time in 2017, a move that culminated in the release of fifth album Testament and a national tour before an indefinite hiatus was announced in 2022. 

'It’s such a shame; I think if we’d got it right, we’d have been laughing. At the same time, we didn’t fake it. We didn’t pretend we were okay. And we certainly didn’t stay in the band for money.' 

Blatt is now looking to establish herself away from the music industry and says her only objective, after years of difficulty with All Saints, is the pursuit of happiness. 

“My dream is to do a cookery book,' she said. 'Or have my own cookery programme. Something like ‘Cheeses of the World’ where I travel to Africa and Asia and talk to people about cheese. 

'I’m putting it out there, because I’m going to make it happen.

'My motivation in life is just to be happy. I’ve got to 50 and I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but the main thing I want from life is peace and happiness.'

Read the full interview, available in Good Housekeeping UK’s April issue, on sale from 26th February.