Phone hacking: 1996–2009
Melanie C's phones were hacked from 1996, when Wannabe was released, until 2009 when she had her daughter, with cases taken against The Sun and News of the World.
Snapshot · The Louis Theroux Podcast
S8 EP5: Melanie C on Spiceworld, comparing muscles with Arnold Schwarzenegger and why she’ll always be a Spice Girl
Explore episode
Jul 6, 2026
Where this was said
Phone Hacking: Thirteen Years of Surveillance
At 40:54 · chapter starts 40:20
Melanie C describes how the Spice Girls lived in constant fear of tabloid exposure — anything they did at night, anyone they met, any transgression would 'get found out.' She pauses, then delivers the reveal: 'Now we know why and how. Because our phones were being hacked.' The hacking ran from 1996 to 2009, the year she had her daughter; she has taken legal action against The Sun and News of the World. She declines to comment specifically on Piers Morgan and The Mirror ('those proceedings have come to a halt'). Her broader view on tabloids is clear: they helped build the Spice Girls but also tried to destroy them. Now, with social media, tabloids have 'lost so much of their power' and she has no interest in engaging with them.
Phone Hacking: From Wannabe to Her Daughter's Birth
Melanie C's phones were hacked from the moment Wannabe was released in 1996 until she had her daughter in 2009 — thirteen years of private conversations intercepted. She has taken legal action against The Sun and News of the World, and won't comment on whether The Mirror was involved.
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