Mel C has shared how an early days Spice Girls backer slammed her body in shameful slur which spiked eating disorder.
At the beginning of the girl group's career, they were managed by a team who were financially backed by a man who made a horrible comment on her size.
"He was the financial backer of the original managers and he commented on the size of my thighs which was something that really shook me ," she said.
Melanie went to a performing arts college when she was younger and she revealed that 'body image was an issue there'.
"There were girls with eating disorders that I had been witness to. But it never affected me personally," she added on the Diary Of A CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett.
She said she put on 'a little bit of weight' as a teenager but it was never 'something that bothered her'.
"But someone actually commenting on the way I looked when I was going into a career was, because so much of it is about how you look, really affected me," Mel added.
The financial backer's comment was made in front of the other girls - including Mel B, Emma Bunton, Geri Horner, and Victoria Beckham.
Melanie previously discussed developing an eating disorder after joining the band - which was formed in 1994.
She said the 'stakes were raised' so she had the idea that she had to be a certain way to be a 'pop star.'.
"I started eliminating food groups and was very restrictive with my eating alongside doing more and more exercise, to the point of it, becoming extremely obsessive," she said.
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"And that went on for years. I mean, that went on throughout the bulk of that time. I wasn't eating enough, I lost so much weight. I did become anorexic."
She added to How To Fail with Elizabeth Day : "And my period stopped. I always wanted to be a mum. And here I was unable to control this thing that could have jeopardised my fertility. but it was such a compulsion. I couldn't stop it."
The girl band, which was formed in 1994, performed together until 2000 until they went on hiatus.
Geri left the group in 1996 and cited exhaustion and creative differences.
However, they reunited for two concert tours, the Return of the Spice Girls in 2007 and Spice World in 2019.
*For help and support on eating disorders contact Beat Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677.
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