Melanie C once got a weight bench as a Christmas present from her dad.

The 52-year-old pop star adopted the nickname Sporty Spice during her time in the Spice Girls, but Melanie's passion for health and fitness goes back well before then.

Melanie - who starred in the Spice Girls alongside Mel B, Emma Bunton, Geri Horner, and Victoria Beckham - told the Guardian newspaper: "I had an incident when I was at school. I was quite skinny as a kid and there was a girl who took a dislike to me and tried to beat me up.

"She didn't succeed. But I asked my dad for a weight bench that year for Christmas from Argos. So that's when I started my strength training journey because I just thought: 'I want to be able to handle myself.'"

Melanie has suffered from impostor syndrome at times in her career. But she still feels proud of her Sporty Spice era.

Melanie - who has also enjoyed success as a solo artist - shared: "I think all humans have impostor syndrome, and if you don't you're a psychopath. It's just a part of human nature.

"When I released Northern Star, I was really determined to be seen as an individual, and I did want people to see there was more to me than just Sporty Spice. I was frustrated that people weren't ready for the Spice Girls to be solo artists. I completely accept that now, and I love Sporty Spice, and realise it's such a huge part of who I am as a performer."

Meanwhile, Melanie recently admitted that she'd love to reunite with the other Spice Girls at Glastonbury.

The pop star dreams of performing at the world-famous music festival.

Melanie told Magic Radio: "Glastonbury would be the pinnacle, it's a bucket list. Spice Girls, Pyramid Stage -- I like to think that will happen at some point. I'm very strongly manifesting that it will happen."

Melanie insists that the group still have a distinctive energy, too.

She said: "There's something about the dynamic of the Spice Girls -- when we're in a room together it's electric. It still happens to this day … there is something magical about those five personalities."