Spice Girl Melanie CHISHOLM battled an eating disorder and struggled with depression throughout her pop group's heyday in the late 1990s. The 33-year-old - who is nicknamed 'Sporty Spice' - blames the negative press surrounding her body image for forcing her to become obsessed with diet and exercise. She says, "I'd hammer the gym for three hours a day. It was a way of running away, not thinking. I felt like a robot. Then I started to control my eating. I cut out whole food groups like carbs and dairy. "By the end of the Nineties I was living on steamed veg and fresh fruit. I've no idea how I kept going. When the papers started calling my 'Sumo Spice', I was only a size 10. But I was so upset by all the criticism, it got worse and I went up to a size 14."