Melanie C has spoken about an unsettling encounter with Jimmy Savile, describing how the disgraced media personality made her feel 'very uncomfortable' during a lift meeting and on-air interaction. The 52-year-old singer, formerly of the Spice Girls, recalled the incident on The Louis Theroux Podcast, where she and Theroux discussed the Spice World film and edits made to it.
Mel C's Encounter with Savile
During the podcast conversation, Melanie C suddenly mentioned meeting Savile. She said: 'I met Jimmy [Savile] as well. Yeah I did one of the breakfast shows whether it was GMT or whatever it was called at the time. And I was on the sofa next to him and I was in the lift with him and he made me feel very uncomfortable. I think he was even a little bit, he was quite old at the time, I think he was almost a little bit inappropriate on the air. He was just, he was him, let's not give him any air time.'
Savile, whose crimes were only exposed after his death in 2011, was the subject of a documentary by Louis Theroux filmed while Savile was still alive. In the year 2000, Theroux interviewed Savile across the UK. During the documentary, Theroux asked about speculation regarding Savile being a paedophile. Savile responded: '[We] live in a very funny world. And it's easier for me, as a single man, to say 'I don't like children' because that puts a lot of salacious tabloid people off the hunt.... How do they know whether I am [a paedophile] or not? How does anybody know whether I am? Nobody knows whether I am or not.' He then lied, stating: 'I know I'm not.'
Theroux's Reflections on the Documentary
Since Savile's crimes were uncovered, Theroux has discussed his feelings about the documentary. Speaking to the Mirror in 2020, he admitted he did not regret making it but wished he could have exposed Savile. He said: 'If you're asking, do I wish I'd made that programme and been able to expose him? I mean, it's a bit like saying, do I wish I could turn cheese into chocolate? Do I wish I could fly? Do I wish I could go back in time and predict the outcome of the World Cup and make millions of pounds? Do I wish I could go back and expose Jimmy Savile as a sex offender? Yeah, of course. If I did that story with a time machine and went back again, I would be armed with so much more information. But I really think that, given what we knew then, it's a piece of work that holds up.'
