Emma Bunton says she cried when she first joined the Spice Girls as it was first time away from home

Emma Bunton has admitted that she lay in bed crying when she first joined the Spice Girls as it was her first time away from home.

The singer, 44, said that her bandmates sweetly rallied around her at the time and she knew from that moment they would have a ‘long lasting’ friendship. 

The singer was around 19-years-old when she first joined Spice Girls, and as such, she got the nickname Baby Spice in the girl group.

Talking on Clemmie Telford’s Honestly podcast, Emma admitted that she was so homesick and she missed her mother at the start of her career.

She said: ‘The first night I got there [to the house] I shared with Victoria and I was lying in bed and got really upset because it was my first night away from home ever and I thought I either lie here and cry on my own or I go and speak to the girls. 

‘So I got up and went and said girls this is my first time away from home and I feel like this is going to be special but this is my first time away from home, I feel really home sick and I miss my mum and I don’t know what to do. 

‘They all hugged me and I knew that was it. I knew I had to be open with them if it was going to be a long lasting friendship.’ 

The star joined the band in 1994 with Mel B, Mel C, Victoria Beckham and Geri Horner. The group split in 2001 but later reunited in 2007 and 2012.

In 2019, the Spice Girls reformed – minus fifth member Victoria – for a UK, Ireland and Scotland summer tour.  

Elsewhere during the Honestly podcast, sponsored by Vodafone, Emma also admitted that things would be different in the current climate, she said: ‘Being a Spice Girl then and now would have been completely different. 

‘I was just 19 when it [the band] started and I don’t know how I would have dealt with the social media and the pictures back then.’

Emma recalled how she remembered the first time someone took a photo of her out a club with her friends on their camera phone, admitting it ‘frightened her’. 

The singer also noted how the band’s tours have changed with fans now on their mobile devices.

Emma said: ‘Our first [Spice Girls] tour was incredible and I remember looking out and seeing faces and now you look out and just see phones. I think that ‘I really hope you’re taking it in’.’

Although the star praised technology and its use during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns.

Emma joked: ‘I became good at Zoom quizzes! I thought it was funny when we did the Zooms.

‘I’d hook up with my girlfriends or as couples, actually it became quite nice because normally you’re in a loud bar somewhere and you get five minutes to talk to each person, whereas this we could actually talk for a few hours and it became quite nice.’

The podcast comes after the Spice Girls took to social media to share a series of throwback snaps on Monday as they marked Mel C’s 47th birthday. 

Victoria, 46, penned ‘Here’s to so many amazing memories together!’ as she shared an old image of herself with Mel C aka Melanie Chisholm to Instagram in which she sipped a glass of red wine.

While Emma uploaded a black and white snap of the pair cosying up together as she too celebrated Sporty Spice’s big day.

Meanwhile, Geri, 48, shared a series of images of herself with Mel as she wished her pal a very happy birthday.   

Emma’s monochrome photo saw herself and Mel looking youthful and sporting huge grins as Mel wrapped her arm around her band mate.

She wrote: ‘Sending love and hugs to my birthday girl @melaniecmusic. Can’t wait to see you in person and get back to our spicy ways! Love ya lots.’ 

Meanwhile, with the 25th anniversary of the Spice Girls’ debut single Wannabe approaching in 2021, Mel B recently insisted the girls are up for marking the occasion ‘as soon as the rules allow it’.

With countless shows and tours cancelled and postponed over the past year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the singer admits it’s been tricky to put plans into motion, having reformed the group for a Spice World UK tour in 2019.

‘People need a bit of entertainment. Music brings people together. I would love it – as soon as the rules allow it, then yeah,’ Mel said, as reports The Mirror.

She went on: ‘Until the virus gets under control I don’t think anyone can securely say “I’m definitely going on tour”.

‘When it comes to putting on a show or concert, I don’t know how people are going to do it without the proper guidelines and information, because things change on a weekly basis.

‘Us lot are definitely up for it – it’s just a case of timings and safety. I’m always itching to get back on to the stage.’

It’s thought that Mel has been coaxing Victoria to take part in marking Wannabe, after she opted not to tour with her, Emma, Mel C and Geri in 2019.