PREVIEW: Spice Girl Mel B promising Brutally Honest & Fabulous Show at Leeds Grand Theatre
In a Q&A - see the full interview below - she says: "You can expect to laugh, to cry and be supposed I’m not going to say much more because it will be all about being there ! It will be a rollercoaster ride so get ready to buckle up."
Fresh from the success of the Spice Girls sell-out tour, she has announced two exclusive, intimate ‘audience with’ style shows.
The first is at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House this Sunday - August 25 - before se takes the show to the Savoy Theatre in London the following Sunday, September 1.
BUY TICKETS: For Leeds details and ticket information - including an on the day meet and greet upgrade - visit www.leedsgrandtheatre.com. For Savoy Theatre in London visit and www.atgtickets.com
Fans might think they know everything there is to know about the irrepressible 'Scary Spice' but think again! In these shows Mel will give fans a 'brutally honest' insight into what her life is really like. Jam-packed with spicy showbiz secrets - the no-holds barred show will reveal the glamour, the gossip and everything in-between.
Fans will get a rare chance to get up close and personal with the star as she reveals the real truth behind the headlines, with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions. Mel promises to answer ANY question thrown at her.
The show will examine every aspect of Mel’s life, from where she began to where she is today.
Mel’s self-effacing, mercurial story-telling will shatter your illusions in every way possible. The show takes the Spice Girls sell out reunion as its starting point and will zigzag back and forth through an exceptional life story .
With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and Melanie’s trademark Yorkshire humour, this event removes the mask of fame and reveals the mother, wife and daughter behind the Spice Girl everyone thinks they know.
Melanie plans to explode the myth that 'What goes on tour, stays on tour' revealing all the backstage gossip from Spice Girls tours past and present.
The show will also feature explosive never-before-seen video content including appearances from some of her bandmates.
Melanie will also be joined, on stage, for part of the show, by her mum, Andrea, sister Danielle and daughter, Phoenix who will add their own funny memories and anecdotes of life with Melanie.
Independent, feisty and fearless Melanie will tell it exactly how it is (and was) and her epic journey along the way.
From the bust-ups and the make-ups of the Spice Girls to TV superstardom and stints on X Factor, America's Got Talent and Dancing with The Stars. It's is a tale of sex, drugs, rock and roll and ultimately triumph against all odds.
Her relentless enthusiasm and refreshingly blunt compulsion towards honesty are set to make these shows the hottest tickets in town.
Melanie said: “I cannot wait for this fabulous, fantastic opportunity to be absolutely myself in front of you all. It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be different and it’s going to be a night I hope you won’t forget!
"We’ll be talking Spice Girls, we’ll be talking Scary and we’ll be talking how you can actually turn your life around from the absolute pits of hell to being right here, right now and feeling wonderful. I’ll have my family with me and my friends and it will be as intimate and entertaining as it gets.
"And - don’t forget - you get to turn the tables on me and ask me anything you like! Oh no! What have I let myself in for?"
MEL B Q&A:
Coming home to Leeds must be special experience?
It really is! And I can’t wait. This feels like a homecoming to me I can’t actually express what it feels like for me to be back in Leeds after everything I’ve been through and all the places I’ve lived in ... I love being surrounded by my family, by Yorkshire accents - I never lost mine - and having Tetley Tea bags in my kitchen and I even love the rain !
Spice Girls did not perform here so this is a unique opp for fans?
I know - the closest we came was Manchester for three nights so yes it’s a great opportunity for any of my fans just to be able to get on the bus or drive to the Leeds Grand Theatre. I think a few people might be coming up from different parts of the country to see me on my home turf. That feels great - like Leeds United playing at Elland Road.
You have a personal connection to the Leeds Grand?
Ha ha. Yes. I was part of their Operatic Society believe but it was also the place where I auditioned for a part as o e of the family in the Sound Of Music when I was a teenager. I remember by mum saying ' Melanie, they aren’t going to give you apart in that ‘ because it’s all the kids were blonde haired and blue eyed just as Hitler was beginning to take over Germany and Austria. I didn’t care I was determined to go for it anyway which just shows what sort of a kid I was. I would go up for anything no matter how impossible it seemed because I had no plan B this was what I wanted to do - no matter that I was mixed race with black curly hair! I was also pretty used to rejection because you have to get used to it in this business so I knew I wouldn’t be broken if I didn’t get the part which obviously I didn’t but that story still makes my mum laugh !
You’ve just finished a mammoth tour with the Spice Girls - how will your Brutally Honest and Fabulous shows compare?
Well I am a Spice Girl so there will ALWAYS be an element of Spice Girls magic but this is more about getting to know the real me, it will be more intimate, my family will be involved, I will be taking questions from the audience. The thing they will have in common is that the point is to be uplifting and entertaining with a bit of education on the side about what I’ve learnt through my experience of an emotionally abusive marriage and how that has changed me as a woman, as a mum and as an advocate.
What can we expect from the show?
You can expect to laugh, to cry and be supposed I’m not going to say much more because it will be all about being there ! It will be a rollercoaster ride so get ready to buckle up.
Is there really anything we don’t know about Mel B?
So much ! People think of me as this loud mouthed , riotous Scary and that is part of me but there’s so much more . I think I’m very much a girl from Leeds whose wildest dreams came true but I went from
Living the dream to living a nightmare and it has taken me three years to get myself back to who I was. Being here in Leeds for the past few months has really helped in that process.
Can the audience reAlly ask ANY questions and you’ll answer them?
Anything ! Just be prepared for honest answers !
You have a special relationship with your fans ?
I love my fans. I wouldn’t be where I am now without my fans. They make me laugh, they make me happy and they make me feel I have an army at my back. I was so proud of my fans at the recent shows because so many came out in leopard print - men, women, kids and all representations of the LGBT world looking FABULOUS and fierce and I had someone go out in the crowd and take pictures and videos of all of them
Because I loved them and I was so grateful for the effort they made !
This is a pretty personal show?
It’s very, very personal to me. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time to break down barriers between the audience and the so called star. We are all the same underneath everything with our hopes dreams fears and this is about celebrating that.
Can we expect any special guests to pop up during the show ?
Not saying ... I have to keep some things secret.
Your mum, Phoenix and sister Danielle are there - that Is pretty cool ?
My mum is very nervous because she gets terrified in front of crowds but I like them all to see a bit of what I do and be part of it. I spent ten years without them in my lives and I want not just to be able to talk openly about things like that but to share this experience with them.
Is Pheonix looking forward to coming back after the recent C4 Show? She seemed to make some friends in Leeds?
PHOENIX loves Leeds. She will be getting fish and chips from Bryan’s which is always the first stop.
Is it true that you are moving back to the UK?
It’s true that I’m considering my options .. I’ve spent a long time away.
Are you coming home to Leeds?
If I stay in the UK I will be spending a lot of time in Leeds. I have fallen back in love with it and it would now be hard to let go of it again.
Have you invited your band mates to the show
My band mates are always invited it just depends on their schedules we are now all mums with very busy lives!
What about Victoria B? Do you think she’d step foot in Leeds?
I think Victoria would be privileged to step foot in Leeds. She’s a fashion queen and the ladies of Leeds are very stylish - she would find it inspiring!
Any other celeb mates coming along?
Again my lips are sealed you will have to wait and see.