Mel C gives Spice Girls go-ahead

Melanie C embarked on a solo career after the Spice Girls split up

Singer Melanie C has given the green light for a reunion of the Spice Girls.

"For the first time ever, there is some truth in the rumours... it could happen," she told BBC London 94.9.

But the singer, also known as Sporty Spice, said it would just be for "a very short space of time... a final goodbye" and a thank you to fans.

It is thought ex-bandmates Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Mel B and Geri Halliwell had already agreed to reunite but Melanie C had resisted until now.

The singer, whose real name is Melanie Chisholm, said she admired Take That, who have enjoyed renewed success since they got back together last year.

But she added, "it would be really dangerous to think you could just follow in their footsteps because I think that's unique, what has happened to Take That".

The Spice Girls were one of the UK's most popular acts

She added that she had always said she didn't want to get the band back together because "it was amazing, it was magical. We could never recreate it".

"But this year people have been talking about it and some of the girls have expressed an interest in doing it."

"I don't want to be the person that stops it happening or stops it being a five-piece," she told the radio station."

Solo careers

It is rumoured the band are planning six live shows around the world with gigs in London, Tokyo and Las Vegas, to support their Greatest Hits album which comes out later this year.

They are likely to begin rehearsing for the shows after Bunton gives birth to her first baby later this summer.

The Spice Girls were one of the most successful pop acts in British history, with a string of number ones starting with 1996's Wannabe.

Geri Halliwell was the first to leave the band in 1998, walking out while the group were on a European tour.

The Spice Girls released another album but finally split in 2000, with the participants all going on to solo careers with varying degrees of success.