Michelle Stephenson

Alongside Melanie Brown, Victoria 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”.[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.[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.[4] Stephenson was replaced by Emma Bunton.