Last week Melanie B reached the ripe old age of 26 - retirement time for most popsters! But with a second album, two TV shows and several tours on the horizon, when it comes to world domination, Mel B's barely begun. We joined her for a natter about her new single, selling her house and staying Spicy.

Why did you decide to release Lullaby as a single?
Because it's really personal and it's something for me and Phoenix to keep. I was a little bit worried about whether to put Phoenix in the video cos it's not fair to push kids into things, but it wasn't as if she had any pressure on her - while I was filming my bit there was a guy with a steadicam filming her just doing her own thing. Plus, Neneh Cherry, Lauryn Hill and Will Smith have all done it.

Does Phoenix realise Lullaby's about her?
Not yet. She's only two! She loves all kinds of music. But I don't sing it to her like a lullaby. She likes silence when she goes to bed!

We hear you've got some TV projects in the pipeline.
Yeah, I'm making a programme about Africa. I'm going there for about twelve days to live with the villagers, getting to know about spiritualism, black magic, sacrifices and voodoo, but not the bad voodoo, the good voodoo. It should be very interesting. And straight after that I go and present my own TV show called This Is My Moment. It's a mixture of Stars In Their Eyes meets Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but without the tack, and it's prime time Saturday night, which should be wicked. They win a lot of money but it's not promising a record deal or anything like that, it's just for fun. I've also got a small part in a Bollywood movie so I'll be shooting that soon.

Why aren't you releasing Hot in America?
Because by the time it gets released over there it will be very dated. I want to give them something new and fresh. I want to work with hardcore R&B people so my second album will be more R&B than my first. I'd like to write a new album and bang, take it straight out there and then go to Europe and England to do it the other way round. But that won't be for a while.

Emma's recorded a song with Jade, would you consider doing a duet with Max?
Hahaha! No. I don't think he would either. We can work together quite happily in the studio because all our arguments get kept behind closed doors, but if we were actually to go up there on stage together it wouldn't be too pretty!

Have you got any ambitions outside the limelight?
I do gardening! Me and Phoenix pick flowers. She bends them all while I arrange them! The new Charlie Dimmock? Maybe when I get a lot older! Actually I'd really like to release a baby clothes range cos I don't think there's enough out there, apart from Gap, which is fantastic and very affordable. But I'd like to do something quirkier than that.

Are you really selling your house?
No way, I'd never sell my house. If you saw my house you'd never want to leave. I have problems leaving on a morning! I'm not having record company problems either. They're not my problem; I think I'm their problem, hahaha!

When did you last see the other Spice Girls?
I saw Emma two weeks ago and Vicky last week in the office. Me and Melanie text, we don't really speak because I know she's busy and she knows I'm busy.

Do you find it weird that everybody's obsessed with seeing you back together?
I don't think people really are that obsessed. It's just the press hyping everything up. When we get back together professionally, it will just be like old times, it won't be a big deal for us. Maybe it will for other people. But we're all on our little missions at the moment. We keep in contact, we support each other and it's nice. Everybody expects a major split but it's not going to happen! It never will!

So when are we going to see you back together?
I'm going to do a little tour towards the end of this year and then the Spices will do some shows next year. The Spice shows will incorporate solo stuff and group stuff. We've got so many hits together and we've got hits individually, so it will be full on!