“I get tense,” she said, acknowledging the comment made by judge Carrie Ann Inaba last week that her performance still looks a little bit forced. “That’s one of the biggest things that Gleb [Savchenko] and I try to work on is for me to relax. I’m capable of a lot as a dancer, but I just get myself all stressed out. So, I completely take that on board. I will continue to try to chill out a little bit.” So, what does she attribute her nerves to? It isn’t dancing in front of the judges or an audience, rather, it’s the fact that she isn’t as young as she used to be, and she isn’t sure her body will respond to what her brain is asking it to do! “I trained as a dancer until I was 19,” she continued. “Obviously, I was young, I was fit, I was very ambitious, I was very courageous, and I am now 47 and I have had some quite serious injuries in my life. I had a child. I don’t have the confidence in my body that I did in my 20s and sometimes I think that holds me back.” The Spice Girl known as Sporty Spice is suffering from the normal aches and pains as everyone else, and she hasn’t suffered any injuries, so far, she says her body is feeling good to this point. “Knock wood. It hasn’t let me down, so I just need to trust that my body is going to do exactly what I ask of it. I do think people forget that I’m 47. I’m not that far away from 50, so even though I look super fit and strong, I’m still one of the more mature ladies in the show.” That said, Mel C does have concerns for Disney week, because it is only the fourth week of the competition, and she will have to dance twice this week: a heroes dance on Monday night and villains dance on Tuesday night. It’s something that doesn’t usually happen until later in the competition. “It’s quite daunting,” she told Parade.com. “Up to this point, there’s only been one dance to concentrate on and, in all honesty, it really only comes together towards the end of the week, or sometimes on the day of camera blocking, so to think we’ve got two to get to a good point to present to people is really scary. But I think it’s going to be wonderful.” For their hero dance, Melanie C and Gleb will be dancing Jazz to “Step In Time” from Mary Poppins, which she said was one of her favorites when she spoke to Parade.com when she was first announced on the show. “I’m going really old school now,” she said. “Mary Poppins is a classic, and I think for me, obviously, it’s set in England in London and that could be really fun. We could have some fun with my being the Brit in the cast this year.” Then for their villain dance, the couple will perform the Viennese Waltz to “Once Upon A Dream” from Maleficent. “Everybody loves Disney,” she added. “It’s something we’ve all grown up with, so we can relive our childhood. Our hero and our villain are two very different dances, they’re two very different characters, so I’m excited that we can show both sides of ourselves as performers.” Are you still fresh with all the Spice Girls moves, or do you forget them? The Spice Girls moves are ingrained in my brain. We have done them so many times and it is really fun because sometimes I like to go out and DJ as well, and sometimes I will play some Spice Girls songs, so the audience loves that when you start breaking into the little Spice Girls routines. Yeah, I know those very well. It is ballroom moves I need to work on. How much do you take into consideration the judges’ critiques? A lot actually. I agree with what they’ve said, especially the week with the cha cha, the comments that they gave to me were things we already knew that we had been working on and still had to continue to work on. I think it’s really important to take those things on board. We listen to other couples’ comments as well and say, “Look, we talk about that.” Obviously, the judges are experts, so it’s a wealth of knowledge you can use to your benefit. Mel B. placed second on DWTS. Have you gotten any advice from her? Of course, Mel B was the first person I contacted when I found out I was able to do the show, and she was just so excited. She didn’t actually give me advice. She was just like, “Enjoy it, just enjoy it. You’re going to kill it. I’m so proud of you.” It’s going to be tough because, obviously, Melanie is amazing and did such an incredible job, so I hope I do her and the rest of the Spice Girls proud. It’s lovely for me to just have this opportunity to be back in the U.S. and, remind people that it is the Spice Girls’ 25th anniversary this year of “Wannabe,” and the first album. So, I’m hoping that I can bring some spice to Dancing with the Stars. What do you see as your biggest challenge? I think the biggest challenge for me physically is my body is kind of wrecked. I think many, many years of dancing and doing gymnastics. And physically, my age, you know, and it just doesn’t heal quick. I have a few aches and pains, so that’s the thing I’m nervous about. My body isn’t as flexible as it used to be. Also, the technique of all the dances. They’re all very different to anything I’ve ever done. I’ve trained in a very different way. Anybody with dance experience talks about this, but it’s like retraining your body how to move. This week, Dancing with the Stars airs Monday and Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, A Milestone Season! Everything We Know About Dancing With the Stars Season 30, Including the Full Cast
