Mel C “didn’t have a problem” with people who “assumed” she was gay during her Spice Girls days.
Spice Girls star Mel C ‘didn’t have a problem’ with sexuality assumption but had 1 major issue
But the 52-year-old singer – who was first nicknamed Sporty Spice during the group’s early years – wasn’t impressed with people thinking she might be homosexual because of the way she dressed.
During an appearance on The Mitch Churi Chat Show, host Mitch Churi – who part of the LGBTQ+ community – asked Mel: “Did you get accused of being gay? Was that the accusation? ‘Cause you were the Sporty Spice?”
But she replied: “Well, I never called it an ‘accusation,’ an assumption.”
Churi then said “sorry” for the way he worded the question.
Mel went on to explain that some had assumed she was gay because she used to wear sportswear when the band – also made up of Ginger Spice star Geri Halliwell, 53, Victoria Beckham, 52, who was known as Posh Spice, and Mel B, 51, and Emma Bunton, 50, who were known as Scary Spice and Baby Spice – first started.
She said: “You’ve got all the different ones [Spice Girls] and the one who’s in the active wear … it was assumed or suggested that I was gay.
“I don’t personally have a problem with that.
“I mean, it’s none of their friggin’ business. But I just thought … to base it on somebody’s look or the way that they dress, yeah, it was a bit s**t of them.”
Despite being mistakenly labelled, Mel C always appreciated the group’s large following from the LGBTQ+ community.
She said: “We did have an incredible following in the LGBTQ+ community.
“And we were like: ‘This is bigger than us.’ “
Mel previously explained that she didn’t ever want people to think she was “offended” by speculation about her sexuality.
Speaking to Attitude magazine in October 2022, she said: “I’ve always been sensitive around it because I’ve never wanted people
to think I was offended by people assuming I was gay.
“All the Spice Girls have always been aware of the support from the LGBTQI community.
“We’ve never taken it for granted.
“Back then, it was very apparent we had many young gay male fans, including some who hadn’t come out or fully understood who they were.
“We really quickly wanted to change tack, from screaming about Girl Power, to being about inclusivity.”
Mel received an Honorary Gay accolade at the Attitude Awards at The Roundhouse in London in October 2022.
She published her memoir, Who I Am, just a month earlier, in which she wrote: “Here’s the thing with the lesbian rumours (which people still love to ask me about today). I had zero problem with people thinking I was gay, it’s that it’s no one’s business who’s gay or not gay, or who’s bisexual, pansexual, asexual, heterosexual, and so on. If I was gay, so what? It’s not a bad thing, it’s a brilliant thing.”
