A singer named Mel C has told how she was dumped from the Spice Girls to make way for Posh Spice.
Not THE Mel C, of course, but NHS worker and part-time singer Mel Coloma – or “Nearly Spice”, as she will be forever known.
Just a week before the 25th anniversary of debut single Wannabe, Mel tells the Sunday People how she came agonisingly close to being a part of the girl group.
Ironically, she was told her voice was “too good” and that she would overpower the other girls.
Mel’s blow meant good news for Victoria Adams – otherwise known as Posh Spice and now Victoria Beckham.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below
Mel was plucked from hundreds who auditioned to join a new girl group called Touch 27 back in March 1994.
But weeks later, management had a change of heart.
Victoria was brought in and the band’s name later switched to the Spice Girls.
The rest is history and Victoria, Melanie Chisholm, Mel Brown, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell – now Horner – became global superstars with a string of No 1 hits, even meeting the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.
And mum-of-two Mel, 46, has always followed their success.
She says: “It’s amazing that people still celebrate the Spice Girls after 25 years. I don’t think there are many groups who could still be doing that.
"They are one of the last pop groups that really broke the mould. I’m sure they are very proud of themselves.
"They should be. I’ll be hearing Wannabe on the radio over the next few weeks I’m sure.
“When it comes on at work, people know that I auditioned to be a Spice Girl and always mention it.
"I’d have loved to see them when they re-formed but I wouldn’t have been able to afford a ticket.”
Mel was an 18-year-old wannabe herself when she spotted an ad for auditions in The Stage magazine.
She was one of around 400 who applied and wowed a management panel with her rendition of And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the musical Dreamgirls.
Mel goes on: “We had to sit for hours on the stairs, waiting our turn. It was nerve-racking so we didn’t talk much.
"I remember Mel B, she looked very cool. I thought she really had something special.
“In the second audition there were only eight of us. I was very lucky to get that far. I was fresh out of college so I didn’t have much experience with auditions.”
It was in that second audition that she bonded with Geri. Mel, a health service admin worker, continues: “We were put into groups and I was in Geri’s, and we got on really great.
“She was really funny with a wry sense of humour, quite a character. I just remember her making me laugh a lot.
"We had to choreograph a dance routine and there was a girl in our group who was trying to take over and I remember me and Geri laughing and Geri was doing her own thing.”
It was only when Wannabe was released that Mel realised just how big a deal the whole thing had been.
She says: “When Wannabe came out I was touring a national tour of the What A Feeling show.
"So I was doing really well. It’s not like I auditioned for the Spice Girls and then nothing ever happened in my life – it was just one of those things.
“I was on the tour in Liverpool and Wannabe came on the TV and I saw Mel B and I thought, ‘She looks familiar, I know that face’, she’s the main one I remembered from the auditions.
“She really stood out, and then I saw Geri and realised it was the girls from the audition I went to.
“No one knew they would become a huge worldwide success.
“There were so many one-hit wonders around at that time you just didn’t know.”
Mel joined another girl group, but it floundered after a few weeks.
It wasn’t to be her only brush with fame – or Mel B. Years later, she was working as a singer on a cruise ship alongside Sam Bailey, winner of the X Factor in 2013.
Mel was contacted by producers and invited to try out for the show – in front of a judges panel including the Spice Girl.
But her audition in 2014 was cancelled at the last minute without explanation, she says.
Now Cambridgeshire-based Mel still dreams of one day meeting the Spice Girls and even performing on stage together.
She says: “I still sing and am meeting with a songwriter next month. I still keep that dream within me because if I didn’t then I would probably lose a part of me.
“That’s what I’ve always been, I was a dancer and a performer. It would be nice to go into it full-time again but I would have to wait until my kids were a bit older.
“My youngest is only 12. I always live in hope and I’ve followed the girls’ careers and was a fan of theirs at the time.
"I think Victoria has done massively well. She is very fortunate but it takes a lot of hard work to get to that point.
“And who wouldn’t want to marry David Beckham? I would love to meet them all and sing with them and to hear about their stories and the audition.”
Many Spice Girls fans have become internet friends with Mel to gain an insight into what happened in those early days.
She says: “I have a lot of fans who are friends with me on Facebook who are massive Spice Girls fans. They message me about the audition. There’s a massive fan base for them all over the world.
“There is one fan who is writing a book about the audition and trying to find all the girls that were there. That will be fascinating.”
Mel spends her weekends performing with her brother in their wedding band The Decanters and says she is prouder than ever to work for the NHS.
She says: “Obviously the pandemic struck and we haven’t been able to perform but we have our first gig coming up and I can’t wait. It’s been incredibly tough for people in the NHS but I’m proud of what it does.”
Despite being settled and happy with her life, married Mel adds: “1996 was probably the best year of my life. I loved every minute of it.”
