Mel C wants her daughter to join her on tour.

Mel C

Mel C

The 'Never Be the Same Again' hitmaker - who has seven-year-old Scarlet with her former partner Thomas Starr - admits it is "tough" going out on tour now she is a mother but is looking forward to have the little girl join her backstage from time to time.

She said: "It's really tough being a parent and I'll find it tougher this time as my little girl is older now. When children are young they are resilient. Now she's seven she needs me more. But I've been in this writing phase for a while and spending lots of time in London doing mummy duties. It'll be hard to be apart but I'll make sure I'm not away too much.

"Now she's older she can come and join me and hang out. I think when I look at my friends' children, some of whom are older, they've been backstage and on the road. And I think, 'Wow, what an incredible childhood.' I want her to have that but not disrupt her school life."

Apart from being away from her daughter, the 42-year-old singer really enjoys playing live and says that is what "drives" her into the studio.

She added: "Playing live is the best thing for me. That's the drive. It's the reason I go into the studio and write and record. I'm just driven by getting up and performing. When you see that sea of faces, singing back at you and cheering, it's one of the best feelings on Earth.

"Once you become a parent, you can't say it's the best. But the feeling when an audience responds is absolutely incredible. I've had the opportunity to do it in arenas with the Spice Girls and at Wembley. But even doing that with 200 people in a club is great."

Meanwhile, in order to perform the best she can, Mel really takes care of her vocal chords and restricts her alcohol intake.

She told the Express and Star newspaper: "I have learned over time you have to take care of those pipes.

"If there's a day off the next day, we might have a couple of shandies. But I have to take care of my voice. My songs and shows are very strenuous so on the tour I will wait until the last night."