Iconic Spice Girls song censored on BBC Radio 2 and other stations over controversial lyric
The song was a huge hit in the 90s.
The BBC has censored the Spice Girls’ hit song Spice Up Your Life due to a certain line.
Spice Up Your Life was a massive hit when it was released in 1997 and sung by the band comprised of Mel B, Melanie C, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham.
The song was one of their top five best-selling songs from the band and charted in the top 20 for six weeks and the top 40 for 12.
The song was an undeniable hit and is still being played on the radio – but an edited version.
Radio 2, among other stations,is now playing a censored version of the Spice Girls hit, with the word ‘yellow’ removed when playing on Scott Mills’ Breakfast show.
The lyric was: ‘Yellow man in Timbuktu. Colour for both me and you.’
Scott Mills’ show reportedly isn’t the only station playing the censored version (Picture: Sarah Jeynes/BBC)A music insider told The Sun: ‘Spice Up Your Life is a piece of pop music history — it’s baffling that the Beeb have decided to censor it.
‘The [band] are singing in celebration of people from all walks of life. It’s clumsy but not insulting.
‘There haven’t been calls to change it so it’s odd they have decided to do so.’
A Radio 2 representative told The Sun that the edit was not made by them and other UK stations are also playing a censored version of the song.
In 2019, the group apparently considered replacing ‘yellow man’ with ‘happy man’ while they were on a reunion tour.
However, this was scrapped, and the band sang the original lyrics on stage.
In a Doctor Who episode in 2023, the lyric was also censored as characters spoke over the lyrics.
The band is rumoured to be looking at another reunion, this time with all five of the bandmates, after Victoria decided to stay out of the 2019 reunion.
The band has not yet commented on the lyric change (Photo by Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)In February 2025, Melanie C dropped a huge update on the highly anticipated reunion, vowing she’s ready to ‘start planning’ it.
Speaking to Rebecca Judd on Apple Music 1: ‘There has to be something befitting of 30 years since Wannabe.
‘Once a Spice Girl, always a Spice Girl. We all feel like that, but we now are getting together because we know if we’re going to do anything, we have to start planning things to get things right.
‘We have to start making the plans right now and putting them into action. So fingers crossed.’
Metro has reached out to Spice Girls and BBC for comment.
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