Melanie Chisholm, AKA Sporty Spice, spoke about the incident, which made her feel ‘violated’, on an episode of the How to Fail podcast
Melanie C – the former Spice Girl born Melanie Chisholm and nicknamed Sporty Spice – has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a masseur the night before the Spice Girls’ debut performance. Appearing on the How To Fail podcast to promote her new memoir Who I Am, Chisholm discussed the incident, which she says took place at a hotel in Istanbul. She told host Elizabeth Day that the experience made her feel “vulnerable” and “violated”.
“What happened to me, I kind of buried immediately, because there was other things to focus on,” she said, telling Day that the weeks of rehearsals and preparation the band had been doing made her want to focus on performing, rather than the assault. “Everything was leading towards the pinnacle of everything I’d ever wanted to do.”
In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
