Melanie C still struggles with depression

She said: "You don’t really get to cure depression; you just learn how to deal with it and to be easier on yourself. I still have times where it’s tough. I’ve found everything about lockdown hard. I was meant to be touring the album and, bang, the lights go out on the world. It caused a lot of anxiety for me. Worrying about things, worrying about other people."

The 46-year-old singer spoke to a therapist about how she was feeling before she returned to the stage with her Spice Girls bandmates and became Sporty Spice again.

She added: "I did talk to my therapist a lot about those feelings. I was concerned about having to become 'Sporty Spice' again. Then it just hit me that I am her, but I’m older and happier and I have so much more confidence. Once I realised that, it was a game changer. And the reunion tour was magical. The fans were there to have the best time and they were looking fantastic. We all had our kids there. We sang in the sun and the rain."

Mel felt an "overwhelming" sense of relief when she spoke up about how she was feeling.

She told the Mail on Sunday's You magazine: "It was the only way for me. To talk about it, to open up about the things I’d been trying to hide from everyone for so long. And then I felt this overwhelming relief. You finally have a name for what you’ve been going through, and find out there are other people out there with the same thoughts and the same issues. That helps."