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AS THE two feistiest members of the Spice Girls, things were always going to be turbulent between Geri Halliwell and Mel B.
Ginger and Scary Spice’s fiery relationship came back into the spotlight recently when Geri, 53, skipped Mel’s wedding.
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The Spice Girls burst onto the scene in 1996 with five fresh faced young women all hoping to become stars.
Along with Geri and Mel, the band was formed of Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham (formerly Adams) and Mel C.
With nicknames like Ginger, Scary, Baby, Posh and Sporty they were an instant hit after releasing the very catchy tune, Wannabe.
They were immediately catapulted into superstardom, and soon became household names around the world thanks to songs like Too Much and 2 Become 1.
But behind-the-scenes, the band was often plagued by reports of “in-fighting” and “creative differences” – mainly between the girl group’s feistiest members, Geri and Mel.
Here we take a look at Ginger and Scary’s relationship and how it’s played out over the years.
GERI LEAVES THE SPICE GIRLS
In 1998, just two years after the Spice Girls had been propelled to international stardom with Wannabe, Geri announced she was leaving the band.
At the time, she said she was quitting because of “creative differences” and also impact of being in the supergroup was having on her mental health.
Writing in her 2002 memoir Just For The Record, Geri said: “One thing that was clear at the time I decided to leave was that inside Ginger Spice, underneath the make-up, the big hair, the giant platforms and the headline-grabbing dresses, there was a real girl and she was being suffocated.”
The news of Geri leaving the band on the eve of their US tour starting, hit the other Spice Girls hard – especially Mel.
Previously speaking on Loose Women, Scary Spice candidly said: “When Geri left the group, it was bad.
“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.”
Elaborating further on the impact Geri’s sudden Spice Girls departure had on her, Mel told Piers Morgan’s Life Stories: “It bothers me because we’re so solid and we know each other inside out, us five girls.
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“We would take a bullet for each other.
“So it was devastating to me that she felt so bad about herself and her situation that the only way out was just to leave and not talk.
“I still remind her of it. She was round yesterday and I said to her, ‘Why did you leave? Really, why did you leave?’”
During the Spice Girls mini reunion in 2019, Geri admitted that she regretted leaving the group.
Speaking on stage, she told fans: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left. I was just being a brat.
“I want to say it’s just so good to be back with the girls that I love.”
CREATIVE DIFFERENCES
Being the loudest members of the Spice Girls, there were always rumblings of creative differences between Geri and Mel.
This appeared to come to a head during the 2019 reunion.
According to sources, the pair began bickering about the creative direction of the tour, right from the outset.
Mel reportedly wanted to re-market herself as a “more sexy and edgy star”, while Geri wanted the band to head into a more “wholesome” direction.
Before the tour kicked off 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.”
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‘NIGHT OF PASSION’
It could be said that Mel and Geri’s relationship never truly recovered after Scary’s claims that they had once had a “night of passion” together.
The bombshell claim came during Mel’s interview on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2019.
Before this time, there had never been any mention of a “romp” between the two women.
But pressed by host Piers, she admitted: “She (Geri) is going to hate me for this because she is all posh in her country house and her husband, but it’s a fact.
“It just happened and we just giggled at it and that was it.
“We were best friends. Have you ever done that?” And she added of Geri: “She had great boobs.”
Piers asked: “So just once?” Mel replied: “Yeah.”
Triumphant Piers added: “This is a bombshell. A Spice Girls bombshell. You have never admitted this before have you? People are going to be fascinated.”
Mel said: “Yeah and I have said it now. All done. She is going to kill me and so is her husband.”
She added: “Hopefully when Geri gets asked that, which hopefully she will after this, she won’t deny it, because it was just a thing, a fun thing.”
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Speaking to Aussie radio station 2Day shortly after she made the claim about herself and Geri, Mel said: “I couldn’t even speak to your producer earlier because I was on the phone with Geri.
“I did the interview, but I just texted her and said: ‘I admitted on Piers that we had a little bit of a thing but don’t worry about it, it was all tongue in cheek and I didn’t go into detail.’
“‘I said: ‘This was pre your husband, pre your baby, pre one of my babies. It’s fine.’ I don’t know why everyone’s making such a big deal about it.”
She added: “We had a long conversation. She texted me the night of [the interview] and then we spoke at length today – amongst other things cos we’re getting ready for tour right now.”
However, Geri reportedly was fuming with Mel, with her spokesperson stating at the time that the claim was “simply not true” and “very hurtful” to Ginger’s family.
Geri’s husband Christian Horner was also said to be “mortified” by the claims.
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SKIPPING WEDDING
Now rumours of a “reignited feud” between Ginger and Scary have remerged after Geri skipped Mel’s wedding.
She hasn’t given a reason why she was not at the ceremony last month, which saw Mel wed Rory McPhee.
It should be noted that she wasn’t the only Spicey to miss the wedding, in fact, Emma Bunton was the only one who could make it.
However, what was different with Geri was she completely ghosted the whole event, and unlike the other Spice Girls, failed to congratulate Mel on social media.
The silence was deafening with reports of a “feud” between the pair emerging once again.
All eyes were then on Geri to see if she would be at Mel’s second wedding to Rory last weekend in Morocco.
Sadly, Spice Girls fans were left disappointed as Ginger was a no show once again.
