Former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm has finally admitted that she dated Robbie Williams at the height of the girl group’s success in the late 1990s.

The pair had been rumoured to be an item but always refused to speak about it but now Melanie has told Star magazine: “I’ve turned down so many people on this question. It was ten f***ing years ago and I’m still talking about it!”

“It was nothing serious but we went on a couple of dates and it didn’t really work out. It was just a chemistry thing really, sometimes there’s not a major reason. He was busy travelling all over the world and so was I.”

“At the end of the day, you’re never going to get Robbie to settle down are you? You’re never going to tame that beast!”

“I felt for him when he went to rehab. Robbie will have to deal with his demons forever, especially with something like addiction.”

“I’m not comparing myself to Robbie in any way, but I hope and pray that I wouldn’t get depressed if my album didn’t do well. I try really hard to get a balance in my life so that my career isn’t the only thing in it.”