Christmas memories of Melanie Chisholm

Melanie Chisholm, aka Sporty Spice, will divide her holiday time between her divorced parents -- her mother lives in Liverpool, her father in Leeds.

 But in Toronto last week promoting her solo album, Northern Star, she said one of her most memorable Christmas mornings was when she got a certain present from her dad when she was about three or four years old.

 "He got me this doll, you know Tiny Tears? You feed them water, a little baby doll, you squeeze their belly and they pee. Well, I got this other one, you give it food, and it didn't really pee, it did the other thing. And I thought that was great.

 "But right now I think that was gross. But it was great at the time. I had to change its diapers. I remember that distinctly. Mixing up her food and her mouth used to do this (repeatedly opens and closes her mouth).

 "It was really lame, but I thought it was great."