Mel C opened up about her ongoing eating disorder at the height of her career with the Spice Girls.

The artist confessed she consistently felt self-conscious due to the immense success her group experienced. Thankfully, she was eventually able to overcome the situation by getting into sports.

Speaking with BBC’s Good Food magazine, Mel C explained how fitness helped elevate her confidence, adding: “I joined the Spice Girls when I was 20 and it was an insane time. I developed an eating disorder. I was in the spotlight, being photographed constantly, and I started to become self-conscious of my body image.”

The singer – who was known as Sporty Spice – also underwent therapy sessions and acupuncture treatment, a form of Chinese medicine involving needles around your body. This, combined with her love of sports, helped the star develop a healthier relationship with food.

She explained: “I was in denial for a long time but I always wanted to get better – I had talking therapies and holistic therapies, like acupuncture.

Sport became really important to me too. I love to be physically fit and, obviously, to really push yourself, you have to make sure you eat the right things. I like to think I have a healthy relationship with food now, and I love to cook.”

And Mel C had previously confessed this eating disorder often left her emotionally fragile while performing with the band.

She stated: “When the Spice Girls were at their biggest, I couldn’t even really look at myself in the mirror because I didn’t like what I saw. Depression, eating disorders, obsessive over-exercising; I went through all of it.”