At 16, I left my home in Liverpool to attend college in Kent. Now I’m a mum, I realise I was far too young, but I was following a dream. I lived with a family for a year and a half, then rented with college friends until I joined the Spice Girls. When the band first got together, we lived in a house in Maidenhead laid on by our management.
The first place I lived in on my own was just up the road from Emma [Bunton] in Finchley, north London. Now I live in Hampstead. I bought a flat there in the late 1990s with my first lump of Spice Girls money. When Emma and I were living in Finchley, we’d often visit Hampstead at weekends, and we promised ourselves that one day we’d move there and live next door to each other. We both went on to buy a property in the same apartment complex. She’s moved on now, but I’m still living there 19 years later. It suits me because the property is secure and the complex has a little gym.
Now I have my eight-year-old daughter, Scarlet, I miss having a garden. We’re drawing up a wish list for our next home.
So is a property move on the cards?
I’m definitely planning one at some point. We’d like more space.
What do you like about Hampstead?
It’s so pretty, and it ticks all the boxes location-wise. It’s 15 minutes from the West End, I can get to airports quickly and I’m close to the M1, which is handy when I’m visiting my parents. I also love exercising on Hampstead Heath and in Regent’s Park.
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What’s the first thing you do when you get home?
I take my shoes off — everyone has to — then I head to the kitchen for a cup of tea. I used to switch on the television, but I don’t do that any more, because I relish the peace. I lived on my own for a long time, and it can be really lonely, but my flat is usually so full of people now that it’s bliss to get a moment to myself.
What’s your favourite room?
My kitchen. When I had new fitted units installed, I did a little skip around the room every morning, because it made me so happy. It’s quite modern and sleek, but the neutral colours soften it, so it’s not too clinical.
I also love my bedroom. I spend so much time travelling that my bed is my haven. As soon as my daughter goes to sleep, I snuggle into my duvet at 9.30pm and watch a box set before drifting off to sleep. I’ve just finished Mad Men and I’m about to start Big Little Lies. I only allow myself one episode, because my in-built alarm clock wakes me up at 6.30am.
How would you define your taste in interior design?
Modern, but not uber-modern. My flat is messy and lived-in, although I like to think it’s welcoming. My little girl says it’s too modern — she spends time in Wales with her dad, who lives in a traditional farmhouse. But I always say, “Wait until you’re a teenager, and let’s see which you prefer then.”
Would you like a rural bolthole?
I have a love/hate relationship with London. Sometimes I love the chaos, but at other times it drives me mad. There’s a lot of aggression. I used to live in the Welsh countryside at weekends, and it was lovely to have access to open space, but the upkeep on an old country property drove me to distraction.
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Is there a dream house you almost had that got away?
When I was with my ex [a property developer], we found this really lovely country house, but it went to sealed bids and we lost it. I was devastated. I mourned that house and wrote a song about the pain it caused me. It’s such an important thing, where you live. We fantasise about the home we want — and maybe even the life we want — believing, foolishly, that it’s going to change everything.
What album has survived all your house moves?
Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. It’s my favourite album and goes everywhere with me. I used to listen to it at my mum’s, because she had it on vinyl.
How do you relax?
I love to play my vintage Martin acoustic guitar. I can only play a few chords, but my little one has taken up guitar, so I have high hopes that it will be used properly. I bought it in Los Angeles when I was making my first solo album, Northern Star, in 1999.
What’s your favourite British property to visit?
The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, in King’s Cross. I love George Gilbert Scott’s Victorian gothic architecture, but it also holds special memories — we filmed the first Spice Girls video, Wannabe, on the main staircase. Back then, the building was derelict, but it has since been beautifully restored. Spice Girls fans frequently post selfies of themselves on those stairs on Twitter.
Melanie C will be performing at Manchester Pride on August 25 and at Carfest South, in Hampshire, on August 26