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Michelle Stephenson (born 3 January 1977) was a British pop singer and television presenter. At the age of 17, she was briefly a member of the girl group that would go on to become the Spice Girls.[1]
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Michelle Stephenson | |
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| Birth name | Michelle Stephenson |
| Born | 3 January 1977 Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England |
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| Years active | 1990s |
Alongside Melanie Brown, Victoria Adams (later Beckham), Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell, Stephenson completed the original 1994 line-up of Touch, a girl group that would later go on to become the Spice Girls. Stephenson received the highest scores at the first audition, where she sang Dina Carroll's song "Don't Be a Stranger".[2] Stephenson was a member of the group for only a short period before commitment issues prompted Heart Management to remove her. According to Bob Herbert, she was fired because "she just wasn't fitting in... she would never have gelled with it and I had to tell her to go”. He also commented that she would just up and leave during rehearsals sometimes to sunbathe. [2]: 30 Stephenson later challenged Herbert's claim, stating that it was her decision to leave due to her mother being diagnosed with breast cancer.[3] Beckham later dismissed this claim, saying she "just couldn't be arsed" to put in the work the rest of the group was doing and would walk out during dance rehearsals informing the girls she needed the loo and not return. [2]: 31 Chisholm stated in her 2022 memoir, Who I Am: My Story, that Michelle was undecided if she wanted to remain in the band or attend university, and that she did not share the same passion for the band as the others, even being found sunbathing during early rehearsals, noting that getting a tan was always Michelle’s number one goal over rehearsals. [4] Stephenson was replaced by Emma Bunton.[2][5]
Stephenson has given several conflicting interviews about her time with the group, stating that she both does and does not regret leaving them.[6][7] She has also joked she would have been known as Mel S and it would have been confusing if the band also had a Mel C and a Mel B, and has also asserted she was going to be known as Sexy Spice. (The nicknames were given by Top of the Pops magazine after launch.)[8] Stephenson claims she was very close with Geri whilst in the band and wishes they had remained friends, but noted in an interview that she and Beckham did not always see eye to eye. Michelle also claimed that Beckham would sunbathe with her but no one commented one this. Beckham has always denied this claim.
Stephenson's boldest claim was that the reason Beckham does not have any solo lines in the group's first song "Wannabe" is due to the single being written with Stephenson as part of the group, Beckham subsequently refusing to take Stephenson's solo lines. This is something the band has always stated is not the truth and Michelle did not write any songs with them. It is also a known fact Wannable was long written after Michelle had left. Stephenson also claimed she came up with the bands second single whilst out sunbathing which the band has always said is not true. [9] However, many other accounts suggest that "Wannabe" was written after Stephenson had left the group, and that Beckham's absence from the track was due to a scheduling conflict during the writing sessions.[10]
Stephenson worked briefly as a television presenter for LWT,[9] ITV, Friendly TV, and BSkyB. She also filmed a television show in Malta called Wild Games before forming a songwriting partnership with Ben Hackett and Mike Edwards (under the name SHEsongs). She has also worked as a session singer for various record companies. She performed backing vocals for singers like Ricky Martin and Julio Iglesias, while working on her own songs as well. In November 2003, Stephenson recorded and released an EP entitled SHESongs, featuring six songs called "In Control", "Fall Over", "Hey Sugar", "Dirty Music", "Boom, Boom", and "Happens for a Reason".
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | London Weekend Television | Presenter | 5 episodes[11] |
| 2001 | Raw Spice | Herself | Documentary[12] |
| 2008 | E! True Hollywood Story | Herself | Documentary'[12] |
- 1997: Spice Girls – Old Spice the Early Years (Interview)
- 2003: SHEsongs (EP)
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