Her head has plenty to wrap itself around after all - Chisholm has spent the past year doing things like playing Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, which has toured UK arenas twice, and is set for another round next year; she was also a judge on the TV talent show Superstar, searching for the right chap to play the lead role in Jesus Christ.
"It feels like I've come full circle really, because I studied musical theatre when I first left school, and I did a performing arts course, so I guess it was the direction my career was heading in.
"But then the Spice Girls happened, and everything changed. So it's been lovely to come back to musical theatre. I'm really glad that that door has opened up for me - I think musical theatre is something you can do to a ripe old age as well."
Not that she's giving up on her own solo music career at all - she's had another hit this year with a new single, Loving You, a duet with X Factor UK winner Matt Cardle, released her sixth album, Stages, in 2012, and is hoping to spend plenty of time in 2014 working on new material.
"I'm going to start the process of putting a new album together. I'm so lucky to be doing all of the different things I do, but I do miss my band, and touring, and performing my own material, so that's where I want to put a lot of my energy next year."
She's currently on tour with Jools Holland and his band, and it's been a great treat to perform with some horns.
"I'm so incredibly flattered that he asked me to be one of his guest vocalists, and we've got a wonderful brass section, so every song has these wonderful brass arrangements. I do a few of my own songs, but also Ain't Got No by Nina Simone, and a beautiful ballad that Jools wrote with Chrissie Hynde called Out of This World, and I do I Wish, a Stevie Wonder song I've always loved.
"You don't often get the opportunity to perform with a brass section, and it's one of the reasons why I'm so looking forward to the New Zealand show, too."
She's coming here for the first time in February for the Mission Estate "British and Irish Invasion". She'll be sharing the stage with Ronan Keating, Sharon Corr, Leo Sayer, Billy Ocean, and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
"I've actually met all of them before, apart from the orchestra, and I'm really looking forward to being part of it, and escaping the British winter. Plus I've been trying to find an excuse to get to New Zealand for years, and it's finally happening!"
She's performed with Keating on a few different occasions (including duetting for a friend's wedding), and has recently joined him for a UK TV special marking the 20th anniversary for Boyzone.
"It was great, because I've known the boys forever you know, the Spice Girls were coming up at the same time. So I'm really looking forward to hanging out with him, and getting up to do some tunes."
They do indeed go back a long way - the special included footage of Boyzone dressed up as the Spice Girls performing Wannabe.
"Oh yeah! I remember it well, it only feels like five years ago, not 16 years ago. It was for a kids' Saturday morning show, and it was because we'd knocked the boys off No1 with different singles on a couple of occasions, and it was their little way of getting back at us, dressing up and taking the mickey."
Could she convince Keating to potentially reprise the performance at the Mission show?
"Well he's always game for a laugh, so you never know," she laughs. "Might have to ask him."
Who: Melanie Chisholm (Mel C)
Where and when: Performing at the Irish and British Invasion Mission Estate concert in Hawkes Bay on Saturday February 15, with Ronan Keating, Sharon Corr, Leo Sayer, and Billy Ocean, all performing with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
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- TimeOut
