Meet the woman who was almost in the Spice Girls.

Every girl growing up in the 1990s had a favourite Spice Girl. (Or maybe two favourite Spice Girls… I could never pick between Baby or Posh).

But did you know that your favourite Spice Girl could have been someone totally different? Meet Melanie Coloma, the woman who says she was almost a member of the world’s biggest girl group.

via GIPHY

According to The Sun, Mel auditioned with 400 other hopefuls to be a part of the all-singing, all-dancing group.

She was picked for the group, rehearsing alongisde Scary Spice Melanie Brown and even learning songs and choreography, before management decided her “voice was too strong” to work in a group.

Two years later, she saw the video for the group’s debut single (and girl power anthem) Wannabe. Awks.

"This was the group I’d so nearly been a part of. I’d assumed it hadn’t come to anything because it had been two years and I’d never heard anything about [them]. But here they were," she told The Mirror.

Mel learned she had been replaced by Posh Spice Victoria Beckham, who went on to marry footballer David Beckham and start a fashion line worth millions.

"In a different life I could have been married to a footballer, dressed in designer clothes and jetted all over the world. I had no idea then how close I’d come to being in the biggest girl group of all time," said Mel.

These days, Mel spices up her life by singing at weddings, and also works for England's National Health Service.

Let's take a trip down Spice Girls memory lane with the 'Spice World' trailer: