Is it true that Emma's bought a place in your apartment block in London?

It's not actually in the same block but it's the block next to me, she's
in the same development.


Is she round borrowing cups of sugar all the time?

She's not moved in yet cos she's only just bought it.


You've got a new tattoo on your back, did it hurt?

It was very painful.  It took three hours and the whole three hours were
pure agony.  I couldn't speak, I had my friends with me who were trying
to talk to me and I was just like (Mel exhales very loudly a couple of
times) breathing like that all the way through it.  It was my first
colour tattoo and the first one that's been done by a female tattoo
artist.  I thought being a lady she'd be really delicate and it wouldn't
hurt as much cos all the others have been done by big men with loads of
tattoos and piercings but she hurt more than any of them!  Women are
quite determined and so it was pretty painful.


Is that it now?

For the moment...  I don't want to...  Never say never!


You've spent a lot of time in LA this year, are you planning to buy a
place over there?

If the album does well.  I couldn't afford to at the moment, I know what
the papers say and we've got a lot of money, but not as much as they make
out.  Also I wouldn't be able to spend enough time there, it would be
silly, a waste of money.  Maybe in the future, because I've got my place
in London that I love and my place in Liverpool so LA would be my next
buy but I'd never move there because England's my home.


You've got tons of trainers lined up around the walls of your flat -
isn't it a bit whiffy?

No!  My trainers don't smell, not even the ones that I wear to the gym
and have for months.  The secret to not having smelly trainers is always
wear socks.  They only start smelling when you don't wear socks in them.
Boys trainers smell though cos all boys feet smell!


How do you get treated in LA?

It's really nice because there's so many celebrities there.  Because
it's Hollywood and it's full of movie stars they don't really care about
little English pop stars!


What do you get up to over there?

Well it's great over there because, for example, on Saturday morning over
here what do you do?  You get up, go to the shops, whatever, but in LA
you get up and you go, 'What should I do today?  I could go to the beach,
I could go surfing, I could go rollerblading, I could go to the mountains,
I could go skiing...'  There are just endless options of what you can do.
I hung out in Santa Monica cos there's loads of British people there and
then you can go on to Venice cos there's like a big freak show there - a
big gym with big muscle men.  There's so much to do!


Will you be dusting off your tracksuit for the December Spice Girls dates?

We haven't really got our costumes together but I'm still really casual
and all the Spice Girls fans know that I've not really worn a tracksuit
since 1996, only down the gym like!  My wardrobe hasn't changed.


What did you think of your new, short, spiky 'do when you saw it?

When I first get my hair cut it always takes a bit of time, a couple of
days, to get used to it.  At first I don't usually like it, because it's
such a dramatic change, but this happened quite gradually really.  I had
the colour change and it just kept getting shorter and shorter and
shorter and shorter and finally it ended up all spiky!


Were you at all nervous about going for such a dramatic style?

I'd always wanted to go this short.  It grows back and if I feel that bad
I can just wear a hat.  Maybe some people think I should be wearing a hat!


Will you ever grow your hair again?

Probably, because you get bored, don't you?


Your ears will be cold in winter!

I've never thought about that, I'll just wear a hat or a hooded top!