Mel B admits Celebrity Bear Hunt was as challenging as being in the Spice Girls and says she's played 'all the roles' in the band

LEOMIE ANDERSON

Mel B has revealed that her time on Celebrity Bear Hunt was as challenging as being a member of The Spice Girls.

The singer has joined a star-studded lineup including Boris Becker, Shirley Ballas and Una Healy on the new Netflix series, which sees stars dropped into the jungle in Costa Rica as prey for one of the world’s most fearsome predators – Bear Grylls.

Speaking ahead of the first episode, which hits screens on February 5, Mel, 49, admitted that she’s played ‘all the different roles’ as a member of The Spice Girls, meaning she was well equipped for managing the dynamic of living in the camp.

As part of the show, stars learn crucial survival skills while camping in the Costa Rican jungle, desperate to avoid being caught by Bear.

She said: ‘I’ve been with four other Spice Girls for longer than I can remember! We all have different roles.

‘Sometimes you lead, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you’re in the middle so I’ve played all different roles in that over the past thirty years we’ve been together.’

Mel B, 49, has revealed that her time on Celebrity Bear Hunt was as challenging as being a member of The Spice Girls

The singer has joined a star-studded lineup including Boris Becker, Shirley Ballas and Una Healy on the new Netflix series

Asked why she decided to take part in the show, she said: ‘Well, I have a soft spot for Bear Grylls and I have done one of his shows before, in Wales.

‘It was at a time, in 2016, when I hadn’t actually seen my family for a long time because I was in a very abusive, coercive marriage.

‘When I heard about this show I thought – I’d love to do a show with him again since I’ve now left that situation. I feel like I’m now not hiding behind anything, I’m in a different place in my life.

‘It will be nice to reconnect, having gone through something so horrific to now being more happy and more focused.

‘I don’t have any expectations because at the end of the day I don’t like to go into things with all the barriers up. I like to have an open mind. I just want to learn as much as I can and have some fun.’

Mel added that the main thing she hopes to take away from her experience is ‘survival skills,’ and she’ll be ‘like a sponge and just take in as much information as possible.’

The Spice girls were the biggest girl band of the nineties but hopes of another reformation were thought to have been have been scuppered due to an ugly feud between two members.

Reports emerged in November that Geri backed out of a huge Netflix biopic that would have netted each of the five members £1million each.

The iconic girl group were thought to be at loggerheads following claims that Geri backed out of a lucrative TV deal that would have earned them a collective £5million

Celebrity Bear Hunt will be released on Netflix on February 5 (pictured L-R Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Lottie Moss, Danny Cipriani, Leomie Anderson, Boris Becker, Una Healy, Kola Bokinni, Joe Thomas, Big Zuu, Mel, Steph McGovern and Shirley Ballas)

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According to The Sun, the streaming service has told the band to make up otherwise, much like controversial drama The Crown, it will make the show without any input from the people featured in it.

A source said: ‘Executives are keen to have all the group on board providing as much input as possible – after all they are pop royalty.

‘But Netflix are the organisation who defied the wishes of real royalty and went ahead and made The Crown, so they aren’t afraid to go it alone when they have to.

‘The project is in its very early stages so there’s plenty of time to get all five Spice Girls involved.’

Celebrity Bear Hunt will be released on Netflix on Wednesday, February 5.

Celebrity Bear Hunt: Meet The Cast!