Geri Horner and Mel B’s turbulent relationship has previously been left hanging in the balance after a string of stormy rows between the Spice Girls’ two biggest personalities
A much-teased Spice Girls reunion tour looks set to be tentatively back on once again, with four stars agreeing to load up the Spice Bus once again. However, there is one member who won’t be there with Victoria Beckham said to have had a frosty response to the talks.
Sadly for fans, Posh Spice cannot bring herself to take part in the comeback to make the pop group’s 30th anniversary. A reunion has been much hyped over the years with the band previously getting together in 2007 with Victoria and again in 2019 without her.
This time it’s Geri Horner who is apparently steering the ship and will be meeting band guru Simon Fuller in Miami to begin talks.
Last night a source said: “There have been rumours swirling for months, but Geri has always been too busy and had other things on, preventing her from saying Yes. Nothing is yet confirmed but Geri and Simon are back in touch with a myriad of exciting ideas.”
The tour will see the Geri reunite with Mel B, Mel C and Emma Bunton on stage – putting behind them a series of stormy rows – not least between two of the group’s most outspoken members Geri and Mel B.
The duo only just managed to salvage their friendship after Mel sensationally revealed that she and Geri had a secret lesbian fling at the height of the band’s fame.
Mel said Geri would ‘kill her’ for the accusation, but admitted she, Geri and all the Spices had ‘fought like cats and dogs’ during their time in the spotlight – but it was Geri with whom things got really personal.
We take a look back at their twenty year long feud…
Geri’s departure from the band
In the band’s 90s heyday, rumours of infighting between Mel, Geri and bandmates Victoria, Emma and Mel C were rife.
Less than two years after their debut single Wannabe hit the top spot, Geri announced she’d had enough and confirmed her departure from the group in May 1998 leaving fans devastated.
Her decision to leave at the peak of the band’s fame and right before a huge US tour was never going to be well received, but her decision to quit on Mel’s birthday really touched a nerve.
“When Geri left the group, it was bad,” Mel said of their relationship in a TV interview. “She left on my birthday and didn’t tell anybody. She didn’t show up. We had the American part of the tour to continue,” she fumed.
Reunion tour clashes
The band’s first attempt at a reunion in 2007 brought up problems before the girls had even picked up a microphone.
As the fivesome got together for a London press conference to announce news of their tour, it was decided they’d all step out matching in head to toe black as a show of togetherness.
As well as looking striking and dramatic the styling would also demonstrate how united they were as grown women, after previously being known for dressing as their separate Spice characters. But on the day, Mel B could not resist rebelling, adding a shiny, bright red skirt to her outfit in the hope that all eyes would be on her.
READ MORE: Spice Girl’s tour announcement reheats decade old row about Geri Horner’s dress
But, as Mel has learned so many times before and since, Never Underestimate The Halliwell – particularly when it comes to attention seeking.
Geri rocked up in a ultra feminine white flowing floral maxi dress – worlds away from the chic black her bandmates has agreed to. She totally stole the show and had to be plonked front and centre in all of all the photographs from the press launch.
Despite the rather awkward start to proceedings, all five Spices – including Victoria – went ahead with the tour – performing in America and the UK before the dates were sensationally cut short in February 2008.
READ MORE: Spice Girls’ most outrageous tour moments uncovered: ‘I was sick in her mouth!’
The band cancelled gigs in Sydney, Beijing, Cape Town and Buenos Aires. At the time the girls blamed “family and personal commitments” for the sudden change of plan.
But it’s thought that even before the shows started the infighting of days past made an ugly appearance.
“I wasn’t in a very good space with my marriage and I didn’t feel I could go on any more, living in this fake world,” Mel B said last year. She even took full responsibility, saying: “It was my fault, so I was determined to get us back together and I’m still determined it will be five at one point.”
When asked in a recent radio interview how long their 2019 tour was expected to be, Geri responded with a barbed jibe at her bandmate.
“Let’s see if Mel B behaves herself and then we’ll see,” she warned. Yikes.
Creative differences reopen old wounds
Over ten years later the Spice Girls were back together once again in 2019 for another reunion tour – this time without Posh.
According to sources, Mel B and Geri began bickering about the creative direction from day one.
Mel wanted to re-market herself as an edgy and raunchy Rita Ora-esque performer, while Geri hoped the get together would have a wholesome, family vibe reflecting how they’ve grown as mothers.
An insider told The Sun: “The gigs will go ahead whatever happens, but those two couldn’t be more divided and both see themselves as the boss. Everyone involved is braced for some epic arguments once they’re back together.”
While another source close to the group claimed that married mother-of-two Geri was not happy with the costumes Mel is gunning for – deeming them ‘too tarty’ for her tastes.
Geri is reportedly wanting to move on from her Ginger Spice alter ego and has insisted Mel should ‘grow up’ and ‘learn to keep her mouth shut occasionally,” it’s been reported.
Geri, who famously only wears white now, adapted all of her stage costumes – including her infamous Union Jack dress – to fit her new ‘lady of the manor’ aesthetic’.
Lesbian Sex allegations
The awkward start of the 2007 reunion tour pales in comparison to the bombshell Mel B unleashed just weeks before the start of their comeback tour.
Ahead of the opening night in Dublin on May 24, Mel appeared on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories ITV show where she gave the delighted host one hell of an exclusive.
Mel told that she and Geri once enjoyed a night of passion in their Spice Girls heyday – which they ‘giggled’ about afterwards.
A grinning Mel admitted to a lesbian romp with Ginger Spice – before squirming that Geri and her husband Christian Horner were going to ‘kill her’ now. “She is going to hate me for this because she is all posh in a country house but it wasn’t a ‘thing’, it just happened, we just giggled at it and that was it.
“We were best friends. It just happened.”
