As ex-Spice Girl Mel B re-releases her autobiography Brutally Honest, with three more candid new chapters added, Express.co.uk takes a look at the turbulent history of her friendship with Victoria Beckham.
Mel B and Victoria Beckham back in the 1990s at the height of their fame (Image: INSTAGRAM)
Victoria Beckham has been a major player in Mel B’s recovery after a tough time, even designing the dress for her fairytale third wedding to hairdresser fiancé Rory McPhee. Mel allegedly went through an abusive relationship during her 10-year marriage to Stephen Belafonte, claims he has vehemently denied.
This was followed by further struggles when she left her ex, meaning a spell of shopping in budget supermarkets like Lidl, as she and two of her kids squeezed into one bedroom in her mum’s modest home.
It was a far cry from the glitz and glamour of her days in the Spice Girls, when the record-breaking group sold millions of records and played stadiums around the world – but her friendship with Victoria has remained strong. That’s not to say they haven’t had their fallings-out: in fact, in her earlier memoir, To Catch A Fire, the former Scary Spice detailed how she and aptly-named Posh clashed over her distaste for her pal’s boyfriend.
The book, published over two decades ago, details how a 1995 group holiday to Hawaii ended with tension between the pair. Mel had found herself an island romance, and would spend time “sleeping rough under the stars” with her new beau, or cuddled up all night together in his car.
However, Victoria was revulsed when she caught him relieving himself on the beach, quipping: “Doesn’t he know what a toilet is? It’s disgusting.” The pair didn’t have a serious falling-out, but later, Mel was said to be deeply disappointed at her ex-bandmate’s decision not to join in with the Spice Girls reunion.
Surprisingly for a frontwoman of one of the biggest girl groups in the world, Victoria had never been hugely keen on singing. On the band’s debut single, ‘Wannabe’, she didn’t get a single solo verse, while she also admitted she felt “much more reserved” than the others when it came to dancing.
The Spice Girls in their heyday (Image: GETTY)
She later told Elle UK that she’d had “insecurities” during her time in the group, as she’d never been “the best singer or dancer”.
However, the wife of former football ace David Beckham found her passion when it came to fashion – and she didn’t disappoint Mel in that regard.
Victoria has designed her wedding dress, as well as the all-important mother of the bride outfit for her mum – ahead of her nuptials at St Paul’s Cathedral later this year.
Mel is one of the very few brides who are allowed to marry at the cathedral, due to the MBE she received for raising awareness of domestic violence.
Victoria Beckham hugging Mel B after she was awarded her MBE (Image: INSTAGRAM)
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Despite jokingly quipping that the other Spice Girls are now “too old” to appear as her bridesmaids, she still gave Victoria generous praise, describing her designing her outfit as a “beautiful honour”.
That said, the dress won’t be the only one she wears on the day, as she revealed it “wouldn’t be fair to just have one”.
“Just have as many as you want – at least three, right? I’m going to really go for it!” she exclaimed on the Today show with Hoda and Jenna.
Meanwhile, photos were recently shared of Victoria and Mel hugging with a cake celebrating the latter’s MBE beside them.
“Wowza 25 years of friendship and we still like each other haha I love you lots,” Mel wrote on one Instagram post featuring them together.
