Melanie Chisholm is expressing her gratitude for all the times people assumed she was gay due to the time she put in as “the sporty one” during the Spice Girls era.
Back in the ‘90s, people were a little more dead set on identifying closeted queers via extremely obvious stereotypes. And while some may still swear that gaydar is a thing, it’s all a lot more subtle than deciding a woman must be a lesbian because she puts on tracksuits and looks like she could hold her own in a fight.
These stereotypes led to rampant speculation about Mel C’s sexuality, and at the time, she expressed frustration that people would call her a liar when she said she was straight.
While she appears to have maintained a strong grasp of her own sexuality over the years, how she has looked back at those times may have shifted.
“I actually love that [it happened] now because it gives me this affinity with the gay community,” she told The Times in a recent interview.
Chisholm also acknowledged that “a lot of it was judged on my appearance” and noted that she felt speculation at the time was more of “an accusation of being gay” than similar speculations that take place in the tabloid world today.
“That really signifies how we’ve changed as a culture, doesn’t it?” she asked.
Lance Bass coming out as gay in 2006 gave credence to the theory that every popular singing group of the era had at least one closeted queer member, but looking to Sporty Spice to hit that quota only kept fans distracted.
According to Mel B, aka Scary Spice, she and Geri Halliwell were the ones who hooked up during the group’s launch to fame.
“We were best friends. It just happened,” she said back in 2019. “She had great boobs.”
Halliwell denied her friend’s claims through a representative shortly after, calling the statement “hurtful.” But conspiracy theorists well-versed in everything Spice still believe, and an old interview in which Ginger admitted to having “lesbian sex once” has certainly added fuel to the fire.
Maybe we have a little bit further to go for suggestions that celebrities are queer to not feel like an accusation, to some of them, after all.
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