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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019
FIRST EDITION
Text © Sean Smith 2019
Jacket design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Jacket photograph © Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
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Source ISBN: 9780008267568
Ebook Edition © November 2019 ISBN: 9780008267599
Version: 2019-10-29
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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008267568
Ed Sheeran
George
Adele
Kim
Tom Jones: The Life
Kylie
Gary
Alesha
Tulisa
Kate
Robbie
Cheryl
Victoria
Justin: The Biography
Britney: The Biography
J.K. Rowling: A Biography
Jennifer: The Unauthorized Biography
Royal Racing
The Union Game
Sophie’s Kiss (with Garth Gibbs)
Stone Me! (with Dale Lawrence)
The five young women who would become the Spice Girls didn’t need to be outstanding singers. Nor was proven dancing ability essential. They didn’t have to possess supermodel looks or have the wit of a stand-up comedian. They needed to be ordinary girls with a sparkle that could turn them into something extraordinary. They were not easy to find.
Melanie Brown, an irrepressible eighteen-year-old from Leeds, was the first name on the Spice Girls team sheet. She had a spark and exuberance that could poke your eye out. She had no idea that she had the ideal profile to become a member of a new five-piece girl group when she left her parents’ house in Kirkstall at the crack of dawn to catch the early coach to London.