Mel C has credited her daughter Scarlet, 11, for giving her the ‘strength’ to split from her partner of ten years, Thomas Starr.
Sporty Spice, 46, who is now dating her manager Joe Marshall, revealed her only child encouraged her to ‘stand up for myself more’ as she reflected on her break-up from the property developer, 52, in July 2012.
In a new interview on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the Wannabe hitmaker said: ‘I make big decisions. Leaving her dad was hard but I wasn’t happy and she wasn’t happy, and it wasn’t the environment I wanted my child to grow up in.’
‘She’s made me brave’: Mel C (pictured earlier this month) has credited her daughter Scarlet, 11, for giving her the ‘strength’ to split from her partner of ten years, Thomas Starr
The singer met her former long-term partner during a holiday in Barbados in 2002, with the couple sharing a home in north London during the course of their relationship.
On plucking up the courage to leave, she revealed: ‘Scarlett has made me braver. She has made me stand up for myself more. I couldn’t have done that without the strength that I got from her.’
The media personality – who maintains a relatively private personal life – previously insisted they were a ‘good match’ due to Thomas’ ‘very spontaneous’ character and her ‘organised’ personality.
Mel has been dating music executive Joe since December 2015, who she’s praised for ‘challenging, respecting and loving me’.
‘I couldn’t have done it without her’: Sporty Spice, 46, revealed her only child encouraged her to ‘stand up for myself more’ (pictured in 2018)
‘It wasn’t the environment I wanted my child to grow up in’: In an interview on Radio 4, the singer reflected on her break-up from the property developer, 52, in 2012 (pictured in 2010)
The brunette said of Joe in a 2016 interview with Closer magazine: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been in a relationship where someone has got my back.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Mel revealed how a drunken bust-up with Victoria Beckham led to her battles with depression and eating disorders.
The musician said that after the group’s managers threatened to sack her over the incident at the Brit Awards, she started becoming ‘really hard on myself’, which came at a cost to her mental health.
The singer claimed she was read the riot act after she told Posh Spice, 45, to ‘f*** off’ during the offstage clash.
Low-key: The media personality – who maintains a relatively private personal life – has been dating her manager Joe Marshall since December 2015 (pictured in 2018)
Chart-topping group: Mel C rose to fame with the Spice Girls (pictured L-R: Mel, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Mel B and Geri Horner in 2018)
‘I was so hurt and embarrassed,’ she said.
‘We’d all had a few bevvies and on the way out there was a little scuffle between myself and Victoria. We can’t say this on air but I asked her to go away. I was told if that behaviour ever happened again, then I would be out.’
She mused: ‘To think I could have messed that up and lost it all… I began to be really, really hard on myself.
‘I think that is where the start of some of my problems came because I had to be very, very strict with myself. I couldn’t allow myself to relax because if I did I might mess it all up.’
Mel C has previously said the incident happened when they were guests at the 1996 ceremony, a few months before the group released their debut single Wannabe, that became a monster hit.
Last summer, Mel C, Emma Bunton, Mel B and Geri Horner took to the stage for an epic UK tour, while fashion designer Victoria fulfilled her other work commitments.
Drama: Elsewhere in the interview, Mel revealed how a drunken bust-up with Victoria, 45, led to her battles with depression and eating disorders (pictured at the BRITs in 1997)