Melanie C Reveals She Was Sexually Assaulted Before Spice Girl’s First Concert

Melanie Chisholm, better known as the Spice Girl’s Melanie C, has revealed she was sexually assaulted when she was 23 in a hotel the night before Spice Girl’s first concert in Turkey.

Speaking on Elizabeth Day‘s podcast, How to Fail, Chisholm said the assault took place during a hotel massage in 1997.

“I felt violated. I felt very vulnerable. I felt embarrassed,” she recalled. “And then I felt unsure – have I got this right? I was in an environment where you take your clothes off with this professional person.”

She added that because she didn’t want to make a fuss and didn’t have time to deal with it, the assault was “buried for years and years and years.”

It was until she started to write her memoir, Who I Am, that she recalled the memories in a dream. “And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I haven’t even thought about having that in the book.”

“I think it’s really important for me to say it and to really deal with it and process it,” said Chisholm. By going public with the assault and sharing the details, she hopes to encourage other abuse survivors.

“It has affected me. But I’d buried it, and I’m sure… lots of people do,” she said.