Melanie C has recalled how one cruel comment sparked years of struggling with her body image and dieting.
The singer says a remark about the size of her thighs as a young girl led to her cutting out certain food types, before other catalysts eventually triggered eating disorders.
Sporty Spice joined Stacey Solomon, Judi Love, Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha on Loose Women earlier today, as the singer discussed her life and career 26 years on from Spice Girls first topping the charts.
The mum-of-one, 48, explained to the panel how she was reluctant to pen her debut memoir, released earlier this year, as she "felt quite scared to go back to some of those times".
But a reunion with three of her bandmates reminded the star of the impact the Spice Girls had back in the day and prompted her to started reflecting on the past different.
"The Spice Girls, what we achieved broke barriers," Mel explained on the ITV show today.
She went on to add :"We were blazing this trail and it's because we faced challenges."
"We faced sexism early on and that put fire in our bellies and thank goodness for that because we went out there and changed things."
After recalling how she felt "quite isolated" as a child at time, with performing giving her a release, conversation then turned one particular extract from her book.
Nadia mentioned how upset she was reading how a comment about Mel's body during her early twenties changed how she saw her body going forward in life.
"It was really early on in the Spice Girls journey and I did a backflip," Mel began as she recalled the story herself.
She continued: "Someone commented how they were surprised i could do a backflip with 'thighs that big'.
"I never had any body image issues up until that point, i was what we would deem as slim person."
The Wannabe singer went on to recall how the remak gave her imposter syndrome and sparked fears she wasn't good enough to be in the band.
She explained: "At that point the thought that I didn't look right was so terrifying to me. I was thinking 'do I deserve this? Am I right to be doing this?'
"That is what started me eliminating food groups - it started quite innocently - and then there were other catalysts along the way."
In 2019, Mel explained how she banned people from discussing diets around her daughter, 13-year-old Scarlet Starr, following her own battle with anorexia and other eating disorders.
She told Women’s Health: "I didn’t ever allow people to speak about diets in our house.
"I think one of the positives of having gone through an eating disorder is that I’m very conscious of how I speak around her.
"That positive language – it’s a habit now," she added when speaking with the publication.
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV and ITVX
*For help and support on eating disorders contact Beat Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677.
