Warning: This article discusses suicide and anorexia.
Mel C has shared that she experienced suicidal thoughts after the Spice Girls split in 2000.
Melanie Chisholm, 48, has previously spoken about her struggles with an eating disorder during her time in the world-famous girl-group, but when the band broke up, she says that she hit 'rock bottom.'
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The singer believes that her unhealthy relationship with food started back when the group first started, and comments were made about her appearance.
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Ahead of the release of her autobiography Who I Am, Sporty Spice admitted that she had no idea how she managed the intense lifestyle of a global popstar while eating so little.
Speaking to MailOnline, Mel revealed that it all started back in 1994, when the Spice Girls were still called Touch, and a manager made a comment about the size of her thighs, leaving her 'mortified'.
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She said: "I was quite unwell for a few years, when I look back, I don’t know physically how I did it; when you consider how little I lived on and how much exercise I was doing alongside a brutal schedule."
After cutting out all fat and carbohydrates from her diet, Melanie says she 'got to a point where, for a couple of years, I was predominantly eating fruit and vegetables and that was it'.
Although she says it never got so bad that she was admitted to hospital, the singer did reveal that there was a point where her period stopped as a result of her diet.
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Things went from bad to worse when the Spice Girls split in 2000, and Melanie turned to binge-eating.
"So many of my issues were driven by control or lack of control," she said.
"I was binge-drinking. I was binge-eating. I was embarrassed and ashamed of it.
"I had to keep it a secret because even though you’re in denial about it, there’s still that tiny little voice going: 'This isn’t right, you can’t continue like this'. But I didn’t want to face it.
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"I didn’t want to face it until the time when I personally felt like I didn’t have an option. I was afraid of what the alternative was."
Mel went on to say that she was worried she could have 'potentially' taken her own life. Though, thankfully, it was at this point that she sought professional help.
When she went to see a doctor, Melanie C was diagnosed with clinical depression, anorexia, a binge-eating disorder, severe anxiety, and agoraphobia.
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Melanie has since made it through her darkest days and achieved a real recovery, and commends all of the other women who have managed the same.
"All around me I see women overcoming and achieving incredible things. And I just feel like we don’t give ourselves enough credit.
"We are f***ing warriors, you know? Sometimes when I think of what I have done and what I now deal with every day; with work, with being a mum, with family stuff. And I’m like, f***, I’m still standing."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123
If you, or anyone you know, has been affected by an eating disorder, you can find help and support at eating disorder charity, Beat.
Topics: Celebrity
Ali Condon