All Saints stars Natalie Appleton and Nicole Appleton have revealed the truth behind their band's feud with rival '90s girl group the Spice Girls - they secretly were all friends

Although they were pitted against the Spice Girls - whose debut single Wannabe came out in 1996, a year before their first hit I Know Where It's At was released - Natalie says in reality they were all friends and often partied together.

Natalie, 52, admits she has known Emma Bunton, 50, since Baby Spice was 11 years old as they both attended Sylvia Young theatre school together in the early '90s.

In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, Natalie said: "It never really came from us. We just had to kind of deal with it. If you look at us now, it's like there couldn't be any more love if you tried. But back then, what you didn't see is that we were all hanging out with each other - we were going out together all the time. But it wasn't interesting to know that we were friends.

"We've known Emma Bunton since she was 11. We've got history with them and still do."

Natalie does admit it was "an honour" to be chart rivals with the Spice Girls - Emma, Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Melanie C - because they were the biggest girl band on the planet at the time.

She added: "The fact that we were their rivals was an honour, because they were massive and their songs were incredible. They were brilliant to watch, they were so exciting - and to be privileged enough to be their rivals ... we were like, 'We got to that place - and that was brilliant.'"

Despite the huge success All Saints were having in the late '90s, Nicole, 51, admits the group's schedule was so intense they didn't have a moment to stop and enjoy it.

Nicole said: "We were travelling around the world and not having a minute to enjoy where we were."

The sisters have reunited as Appleton to release new single Falling into You, which comes 23 years after their one and only album as a duo Everything's Eventual, which reached the top 10 of the UK Official Albums Chart in 2003.

Nicole has revealed that it was her 24-year-old son Gene - her child with her ex-husband, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher - that encouraged her to make music again with "Auntie Nat".

Nicole said: "I remember one day Gene said to me, 'Mum, why don't you just go back into the studio with Auntie Nat?'

"It's just been a dream."

Natalie - who has a daughter Rachel from her first marriage and 21-year-old son Ace with her husband Liam Howlett from The Prodigy - added: "[Our kids] are our harshest critics and if they didn't think it was a good idea, they would have said, 'nah!'

"They're massive fans and I think they thought we should've maybe thought more of ourselves and they just gave us that little nudge to give it a go."