IT HAS been 30 years since the Spice Girls dropped their debut single Wannabe and kickstarted one of the most remarkable pop juggernauts of all time.
But while they once defined girl power for a generation, , , , and are now more divided than ever before – with their long-hoped-for reunion concert a distant dream.
Geri Halliwell-Horner, Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Melanie C are now more divided than ever before – with their long-hoped-for reunion concert a distant dream Credit: PA
Mel B has appeared to have blocked Geri Horner on Instagram, pictured together in 2019 Credit: Reuters
With the bandmates at each other’s throats, this week’s anniversary celebrations have amounted to little more than a few posts on and a show from Emma Bunton on Heart Radio – despite promoters initially planning a tour for the group to mark the occasion.
And the reunion pleasantries didn’t last long, after Mel B appeared to have blocked Geri Horner on Instagram.
The pair clashed in 2022, after Mel B claimed Geri lied about her age, with the pair unfollowing each other on social media.
And now fans have claimed Scary Spice has blocked her former bandmate, after Geri was unable to properly tag her in a post marking the anniversary of their 1996 breakthrough track.
Geri shared a photograph of the band, also made up of Victoria Beckham, Mel C and Emma Bunton, with the caption: “30 years of Wannabe…Thank you to my beautiful Spice sisters.”
All of Geri’s tags for her bandmates registered, apart from Mel B’s – which happens when a user has been blocked.
The Sun can also reveal that dates were looked at for a global jaunt for 2026, although the plans never got off the ground.
And now it is looking increasingly likely that we may never see the on stage together again.
To make matters worse, confirmed this week that the group’s relationship with their former manager Simon Fuller is over, which puts paid to the ambitious plans he had for their legacy.
We revealed last April that Geri had flown to Miami to meet with Simon about exciting ideas for the group, in the hope he could persuade the reluctant star to return to the fold.
The following month it was revealed that he was shopping around the idea of a , much like which could take place in London or .
However, that is now believed to have been put on ice as divisions over the direction of their legacy deepen.
And a Netflix drama about the group, which was to be scripted by Bad Boys writer Jack Rooke,
The most reluctant to return has long been Victoria, having declined the opportunity to take part in their sold out, 13-date stadium tour in 2019.
They last performed as a five-piece at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony.
Geri has said she is only prepared for a reunion if it includes all five girls. And now it is who, like Posh, is reluctant for anything else.
She has retreated from public life and is said to be anxious at the prospect of returning to the stage. That isn’t helped by her strained relationship with Mel B, who has also washed her hands of future plans.
Mel, whose last year was only attended by Emma and Mel C, said of a reunion tour: “I can tell you it’s not happening. If it does, it’ll be a shock to me, let’s put it that way.
“You can’t be nagging everyone to go on tour if they don’t want to. I laid that to rest when I turned 50.”
And on previously-discussed plans for a documentary, she pointedly added: “I think we’ve all been asked and were all thinking about it at some point.
Spice Girls perform during their US reunion tour in 2008 Credit: Getty
Geri Halliwell Horner and Mel B in happier times Credit: Instagram
“But it has to be done in the right way, and it has to be honest – and not everybody wants to be honest.”
In October, Geri, and in January, they were all at Emma’s 50th party, although Mel B was absent from both.
Geri and Mel B were once extremely close, but Ginger Spice said it was “hurtful” when Mel claimed in 2019, weeks before their reunion tour, that they had once had a sexual relationship.
Speaking on The Podcast this week, Mel C admitted the pair’s friendship was often volatile and impacted the group – as it still seems to be doing, 30 years later.
The Spice Girls pose for a photograph in 1997, a year after they released Wannabe Credit: Getty
On July 8 1996, the Spice Girls released Wannabe which would go on to top the charts Credit: Supplied
She explained: “Like any group of people there’s a dynamic, and what was difficult for us was that Melanie [B] and Geri were really great mates, but if they had a fallout, it would affect everybody.
“I think because they were both so outspoken and, myself, Emma, and Victoria, I don’t know, we didn’t have as much airtime as the other two girls.
“I don’t mean that in a thingy [public] sense. I mean, like, just in the room. So that would cause issues sometimes.
“If it wasn’t for Geri and Melanie being the way that they are, we wouldn’t have been as successful as we were.”
While Victoria, Geri and Mel B look increasingly reticent, it is Sport Spice Mel C who has become the most loose-lipped of them all – taking over from Scary Spice.
In 2022, Emma said of Mel B: “If we want anything to be kept a secret we don’t tell her.”
But in the last year, it has been Mel C raising fans’ hopes, only for them to be dashed.
She gave several interviews where she teased a tour could happen, and said that exciting plans were in motion for their 30th anniversary.
Even this week, on the prospect of marking it, she teased: “We want to. Everything’s in discussion. But it’s a really positive time for us.”
She then conceded: “There’s nothing in the works, so it’s obviously not going to be anything in time for the anniversary. But we are discussing lots of great opportunities.”
She also claimed the group have won back the rights to their 1997 movie Spice World and that they are in talks to get it on streaming services.
However, sources close to the group insisted no talks are currently taking place.
So while fans may be streaming their hits, buying re-released vinyl or forking out for new merch from their online shop, the dream of seeing all five back together again is something of a pipe dream.
In 2024, Victoria said of their 30th anniversary: “It would be lovely for us to do something to celebrate [the 30th anniversary] – a dinner or a lunch – and reminisce. But yes, it will not be any more than that.”
Judging by the state of relations right now, even that would be a surprise.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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