Spice Girl Mel C is set to walk down the aisle at Country House Cumbria which is owned by her close friend and West End star Ben Forster
Mel C and Chris Dingwall will marry at Country House in Cumbria(Image: Getty Images for Pimm’s)
Melanie Chisholm, who is better known as Sporty Spice, is set to walk down the aisle at Country House in Cumbria, as she ties the knot with her long-time model boyfriend Chris Dingwall. The wedding venue is owned by the 52-year-old singer’s close pal and West End actor Ben Forster, with whom she starred alongside in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar back in 2013.
According to reports, the couple, who have been dating since 2023, wanted to host an intimate wedding and will include close friends and family, such as her fellow Spice Girls. However, Victoria Beckham will not be in attendance as they are in America for the World Cup final.
A source said: “Mel and Chris wanted an understated wedding; she didn’t want a big, flashy day, but something smaller and very classy. Mel swore she would never get married, having a big do wasn’t really for her.
“It is the perfect venue for them, totally out of the way but in the most beautiful place.” They added to the Daily Mail: “Victoria won’t be there, but she loves Mel, and she will have made sure that she sends a beautiful present. It is strange that Mel decided to get married on the weekend of the World Cup final, but it works for them.”
The Georgian manor house boasts six bedrooms and a sprawling country lawn, which is said to be perfect for a small, intimate wedding. Aside from Ben, the country pad is also co-owned by property developer Paul Longman.
The pair bought the lavish property while it had been sitting unoccupied for 12 years and spent two years renovating it to their high-end spec, turning it into a sought-after retreat.
The couple first met on the celebrity dating app Raya. Speaking about how they met while on the Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne’s Life Uncut podcast, she said: “Nobody knows this, but we actually met on Raya. I don’t know how much to divulge, but I was in a relationship previously.”
Prior to Chris, Mel was romantically linked to producer Joe Marshall in 2022. And following their split, she remembers thinking to herself: “I never want to meet anyone ever again.”
She continued: “But then you get to this point, and it’s usually on a drunken night out with female friends, and it’s like, ‘You gotta get back out there. You gotta start dating,’ so that’s when the Raya thingy, the profile, was set up.”
Recalling how she set up her profile, she said it was “quite fun” and joked that her friends call it “boy bingo.” Mel also has a 17-year-old daughter named Scarlett, whom she shares with her ex-partner Thomas Starr
The former girl band star matched with Chris while she was in London, and Chris was living in Sydney. Despite the miles in between the two cities, Mel had a scheduled DJ tour in Australia and took the plunge to meet up with the Australian model
Their first date is believed to have been on November 23 of that year. According to reports, after landing in Sydney at 7am, she stayed awake all day in order to overcome the jet lag before meeting Chris for dinner that evening.
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