Melanie C revealed that she was sexually assaulted the night before the Spice Girls’ first concert in 1997.
The star said in a podcast by novelist Elizabeth Day that the attack occurred during a hotel massage in Turkey.
“I felt violated. I felt very vulnerable. I felt embarrassed,” she said.
“And then I felt unsure – did I do the right thing? I was in a situation where you and this professional were taking off your clothes.”
The singer, whose full name is Melanie Chisholm, said she “immediately” “buried” the incident because she had to focus on the Spice Girls’ concert debut.
“I didn’t want to make a fuss, but I didn’t have time to deal with it either.”
She added that the failure to address the attack at the time left it “buried for years and years and years.
It wasn’t until she began writing her memoir, “Who I Am,” that those memories began to resurface.
“It came up in my dreams, or I kind of woke up and it was in my head. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I didn’t even think about putting it in the book.’
“And then, of course, I had to think, ‘Well, do I want to reveal this?’ I just thought, actually, I think it was really important for me to say it and finally deal with it and deal with it.”
The star described the incident as a “milder version” of sexual assault and said she wanted to share the details because of the impact it had on her.
“It affected me. But I’ve buried it, as I’m sure a lot of people do on …….”
In an interview on the How To Fail podcast, the singer also talked about the impact of her parents’ divorce and the eating disorder she developed during her time with the Spice Girls.
“I had this idea of what I had to be, to be a member of this band, to be a pop star,” she said. “I started eliminating food groups [and] being very strict with my diet while doing more and more exercise – to the point where it became very obsessive.
“That went on for many years. I lost so much weight that I did suffer from anorexia and my periods stopped. I always wanted to be a mom, and here I couldn’t control this thing that was jeopardizing my fertility.
“It was a compulsion and I couldn’t stop it.”
However, she says she is “very proud” of herself for overcoming her eating disorder and giving birth to her daughter, Scarlett, in 2009.
Chisholm will release Who Am I, the same title as her 2020 single, on Friday, Sept. 15.