You know it's Scary Spice's house from the distinctive design on the wrought-iron entrance gates: two massive cirIt's the special symbol of Mel B - now Mel G of course - and her husband of five months, Jimmy Gulzar. "It's like us - two people that are each individuals but joined in the middle," explains Melanie.

The work will, of course, be completed by the time Melanie gives birth to their
first child in approximately five weeks' time.

The couple met exactly a year ago, when Jimmy was Melanie's "Spice Boy"
lookalike during the Spice Girls' world tour. As soon as she laid eyes on
the handsome dancer, Melanie knew she'd met the man she would one day
marry. And last September, two became one when the couple tied the knot in
spectacular fashion.

You know it's Scary Spice's house from the distinctive design on the wrought-iron entrance gates: two massive circles, joined in the middle. It's the special symbol of Mel B - now Mel G of course - and her husband of five months, Jimmy Gulzar. "It's like us - two people that are each individuals but joined in the middle," explains Melanie.

Melanie and Jimmy are currently in the process of refurbishing their
15th-century manor house home, set in eight acres of sprawling 
gardens and situated in the sleepy village of Little Marlow in Buckinghamshire. The
work will, of course, be completed by the time Melanie gives birth to their
first child in approximately five weeks' time.

Five months later, the couple are still
clearly very much in love, and are eagerly anticipating the birth of their
baby. OK! joined Melanie and Jimmy in their beautiful home to talk about
married life and their busy preparations for imminent parenthood...

MELANIE, HOW HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP CHANGED SINCE YOU GOT MARRIED?
"It's better - and calmer, much calmer, and there's more trust between us.
But it's still exciting and romantic - I don't think the romance will ever
go. But we're not slushy, and we don't live in each other's pockets.
Recently, I went to a health farm with some friends for a couple of nights,
and Jimmy went to Amsterdam not so long ago. Just because we're married
doesn't mean we're joined at the hip!"

HOW DID YOU SPEND CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR?
"We had Jimmy's family over from Holland for a week. I cooked a big
Christmas dinner for everyone, turkey and all the trimmings - it was quite
an achievement for me because Jimmy usually does all the cooking. I gave
Jimmy a mountain bike for Christmas - because he hasn't passed his driving
test yet - and loads of silly little things like basketball videos and a
Star Trek video. He gave me a ring with 13 diamonds on it, engraved with
the words 'Mel' and 'Jim'. Thirteen is a lucky number for us - we had our
first kiss on Friday, March 13 and we got married on September 13."

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY?
"Jimmy and I have always lived in cities - I grew up in Leeds and then
moved to London, and Jimmy's from Amsterdam. But if you want to start a
family, it's better to get out of the city, and the local schools are
really good here. We looked at about ten houses before we found this one -
I fell in love with the beautiful grounds before I'd even set foot inside."

THE HOUSE LOOKS PRETTY SMART ALREADY, BUT I BELIEVE YOU HAVE SOME SPECTACULAR REFURBISHMENTS IN MIND...
"All the bedrooms are themed - our room is going to be French, with heavy
velvet curtains. We're having a big circular bed specially made - it's so
big you could fit ten people in it - and there will be tinted mirrors on
the ceiling. Then we'll have an Indian room, a blue room, a coloured room,
a pure white room, and a leopard skin room. We haven't had the nursery
done yet, because it's bad luck, but we're planning to have some sort of
mural all over the walls, that will tell a story.
"We designed everything ourselves - we sketched it all out, one night when
we were on holiday in St Tropez. We've chosen everything, from door
handles to light fittings, but we've kept all the original features, like
the wooden beams, the beautiful fireplaces and the high ceilings."

THE HOUSE DATES FROM THE 15TH CENTURY. DOES IT HAVE ANY GHOSTS?
"I think it might have. When you walk in you can definitely feel an
atmosphere. We had every room blessed by a spiritualist, and while she was
doing it we heard footsteps and doors banging. But it doesn't bother me;
I'm quite happy spending nights here on my own."

YOU'RE NOW JUST FIVE WEEKS AWAY FROM GIVING BIRTH, MELANIE. ARE YOU STILL ENJOYING THE PREGNANCY?
"Yes, absolutely. I've never stopped enjoying it. I haven't had any
sickness or any problems at all, but sleeping is getting a bit
uncomfortable. I think the secret is to keep active, and not just lay
there waiting for it to happen. We're looking forward to our first
ante-natal class next week. Jimmy talks to the baby all the time - I tell
him the baby can hear him through my belly button!"

YOU'VE SAID YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE A HOME BIRTH - HAVE YOUR PLANS CHANGED AT ALL?
"Yes. I've decided to have a hospital birth, as it's my first baby. But
if we have more kids, I'd like to have them at home."

ARE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT THE BIRTH ITSELF?
"I'm trying not to think about it at the moment, but I'm sure when I've
only got a couple of days to go, I'll be thinking about the pain!"

IS VICTORIA'S PREGNANCY RUNNING AS SMOOTHLY AS YOURS?
"Yes, she's great. It's nice to have somebody in the same position as you
- we swap notes. Her legs are skinnier than mine, but her lump's bigger!"

DO YOU KNOW IF THE BABY IS A BOY OR A GIRL?
"No, and I don't want to know. I don't care what sex it is, as long as
it's healthy. You can't wish for anything more than that."

HAVE YOU DECIDED ON ANY NAMES FOR THE BABY YET?
"Yes - we have chosen a unisex name, which begins with 'P' - that's why Jim
and I had the initials 'MPJ' tattooed on our ring fingers at our wedding
reception. I can't tell you what the 'P' stands for though."

JIMMY, HOW HAS MELANIE CHANGED SINCE SHE BECAME PREGNANT?
"Mel has always been full of energy, but she gets tired more easily now.
One day she'll do loads of things; the next she'll be knackered. She's
more demanding too, she uses her pregnancy as an excuse to get me fetching
and carrying!"

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A COMPLETE CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE, ONCE YOUR BABY IS BORN?
Melanie: "Well, my life has changed nearly every month for the past four
years. I thrive on change. My life isn't going to stop once I have a baby
- obviously, I do want to have bonding time with the baby, but it won't
stop me from going out when I need to. I'm an extremely active person -
you can't keep me indoors for too long!"

DO YOU THINK YOU'LL BE A GOOD MOTHER?
Jimmy: "She'll be a wicked mum!"
Melanie: "For me, it's all about giving love. I'm very close to my mum.
When I was growing up, there weren't any set rules and regulations, except
that you respect your family, you be your own person and you don't harm
anyone - that's how I was brought up. There weren't any strict rules,
except you weren't allowed to eat in the living room in case it spoiled the
carpet. I used to run wild at other people's houses!"

JIMMY, YOU GREW UP WITHOUT A FATHER. DO YOU THINK THAT HAS MADE YOU EVEN MORE DETERMINED TO BE A GOOD FATHER TO YOUR OWN CHILD?
"When I was six, my dad moved out of the house and left my mum to bring up
five kids on her own. She had to go out to work and each one of us kids
had a job at home, whether it was cooking or washing up. My dad was my bad
example and I know what it's like not to have a dad around - that makes me
want to be there for my own child even more. I don't have any contact with
my dad - I haven't seen him since 1984."

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT YOUR CHILD SUFFERING FROM RACISM?
Melanie: "When I was growing up, I saw how people get treated differently
because of their colour, but I was well educated from both my mum's side
and my dad's side. I was inquisitive about it all - I wasn't hurt by it.
I had a very open family and we discussed everything - that's how me and
Jim are going to be. Anyway, I think the world will soon be that mixed up
that you won't know or care who's black, white, Chinese, whatever. We're
going to bring the baby up to speak Dutch, which is Jimmy's first language,
as well as English - so I'll have to learn Dutch too, if I want to know
what they're talking about."

WILL YOU HAVE A NANNY TO HELP OUT AFTER THE BABY'S BORN?
"No. We plan to look after the baby full time. I'm not going to give the
responsibility to someone else."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN?
Jimmy: "Definitely - and we both think it's a good idea to have children
quite close together, without too much of an age gap between them."

HOW WILL MOTHERHOOD AFFECT YOUR CAREER?
"I'm not planning to take much time off once the baby is born. There are
lots of things happening for the Spice Girls this year, both individually
and as a group, but I can't really talk about that. A lot of my friends in
Leeds have kids and a career, and they still go out and see their friends.
Anything's possible."

BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO CARRY ON WORKING FOR THE SAKE OF THE MONEY...
"I work purely for job satisfaction. If you've got a lot of energy, you
want to go for a run just for the sake of getting it out of your system and
that's how I feel about my career. I haven't got as much money as people
think - yes, I've got a nice house and a nice car, but I still look at the
price of things when I buy them."

DO YOU THINK THE SPICE GIRLS WILL STILL BE HERE THIS TIME NEXT YEAR?
"People have been asking us that since the first day we got together. And
the answer is always, 'How long's a piece of string?' We just don't know.
None of us is willing to retire just yet. That would be a silly thing to do."

DID YOU WATCH GERI ON PARKINSON, WITH DAWN FRENCH AND CAROL VONDERMAN, LAST MONTH?
"Yes, I did - I enjoyed it. I like Parkinson, and the three guests really
complemented each other."

BUT YOU HAVEN'T ACTUALLY SEEN GERI SINCE SHE LEFT THE GROUP?
"No, that's right."

IN YOUR WEDDING SPEECH, YOU SAID THAT YOU WANTED TO BE MP FOR MARLOW IN FIVE YEARS' TIME. WERE YOU SERIOUS?
"You'll have to wait and see!"