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Entertainment October 28, 2025

90s girl band star ‘encouraged to get abortions’ at height of fame

90s girl band star ‘encouraged to get abortions’ at height of fame
All Saints performing on stage at the 1997 MOBO Awards (L-R) Melanie Blatt, Natalie Appleton, Shaznay Lewis, Nicole Appleton,
All Saints’ Melanie Blatt (L) claims management tried to force her to get abortion (Picture: JM Enternational/Getty Images)

All SaintssingerMelanie Blatthas claimed she was pressured into getting an abortion in the90s, alongside her bandmateNicole Appleton.


Bosses reportedly tried to convincethe Never Ever iconsthat having a baby would ‘ruin’ their fame anddestroy the band.


In a new documentary, GirlBands Forever, Melanie, 50, claims she became pregnant while at the height of the band’s fame.


She was with Stuart Zender, the bassist forJamiroquai, at the time, and the pair had only begun dating a short time before.


According toThe Sun, in the documentary Melanie shared: ‘I hadn’t been with my partner for very long, it was definitely a bit of a surprise.


‘It wasn’t people congratulating us. It was more like this look of dread and worry and the realisation that things are going to change.’

All Saints
They were at the height of their fame when she became pregnant (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Hennessy X.O x Kim Jones Global Launch Event - Inside
She recalls being at LAX when her manager told her to abort her baby (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hennessy)

The band flew toLos Angeles, finding some success in theUScharts as well as UK but their success wasn’t on their manager’s mind.


She continued: ‘At the airport LAX our manager, he was behind us, was telling us to abort our babies.’


They were told that having children was ‘going to ruin everything’ and ‘it was the end of the band’.


Melanie did welcome her daughter, Lilyella, into the world on November 20, 1998, the same month the band won the MTV Europe Music Award for best breakthrough artist.


All Saints performed at the ceremony without Melanie but she returned for the band’s next release, Pure Shores, in 2000.

Capital FM's Party in the Park 1998
Melanie welcomed her little girl later that year (Picture: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
"The Phantom Of The Opera" Celebrates 35th Birthday In London's West End - Pre-Show Drinks Reception
Lilyella will sometimes attend events with her mum (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Joking aboutpotential love interests in the music industry,Melanie previously toldMetro: ‘Boybands back in the day, were not actually very attractive.


‘If you look at them on their own, each of them … well, you know what young eyes are like — blind eyes.


‘They were shuffling around, doing a little dance routine and suddenly they’re hot. Not personally for me.’


Meanwhile, Nicole chose to terminate the pregnancy, which she revealed in an autobiography she co-wrote with bandmate and sister Natalie.

Kew The Music - All Saints
Other bandmates were also facing the same pressure (Picture: C Brandon/Redferns)

She was datingRobbie Williamsat the time, and his biopicBetter Manshows them decorating the nursery together before her management intervened.


In the 2002 book, the Under The Bridge singer wrote: ‘Robbie put his hand on my belly and told me “This baby is saving my life”.


‘After having my abortion, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I had done. I wanted to kill myself.’


She added: ‘Afterwards, everyone pretended it hadn’t happened. I was too scared for confrontation. I am only now starting to get my confidence back.


‘But writing about it made me confront it all. I’m so glad I did it. It was there, but I’d never told anyone in detail. It was like I was saying, “Now do you understand why my confidence disappeared?'”

"Better Man" European Premiere - Arrivals
Nicole Appleton discussed her abortion in her book (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Theysplit in 1999,shortly after the abortion and amid Robbie’s personal struggles with Nicole going on to dateLiam Gallagher.


Two years later, she and Liam had a son,Gene, and then tied the knot in 2008, before splitting in 2014 after theOasissinger had a child with another woman.


Nicole supported Robbie’s retelling of events for his movie, approving the script and coming to theLondonpremiere last year.


At the afterparty, he reportedly dedicated a rendition of She’s The One to his ex.

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