Mel B has startled Spice Girls fans by alleging that Geri Halliwell, her former bandmate, lied about her age for years and is not truly 51 years old.
The singer, 48, stated that Geri, now known by her married name Geri Halliwell-Horner, was cautious of her passport whenever the group toured overseas, so she never saw documentation of her bandmate’s date of birth.
Mel went on to remark that, despite Geri’s assertions that she recently celebrated her 50th birthday, she is sceptical that she was indeed born in 1972.
Speaking to Olivia Attwood, 32, on her podcast So Wrong It’s Right, Mel said it’s ‘wrong’ to lie about your age and that people should learn to embrace aging wholeheartedly.
She told Olivia: ‘Oh no, that’s, that’s wrong. Embrace your age.’
Olivia shared that she doesn’t know how old her own mum is, saying: ‘My mum was here the other day and she said, “Oh no, it’s right,” [to lie about your age] because I don’t even know how old she is.’
Mel jumped in, claiming, ‘No, well no one knows how old Geri is. No one’s seen her passport,’ causing Olivia to exclaim, ‘That’s true!’
Scary Spice went on: ‘I mean, I know we’ve travelled the world, but I still don’t know how old she is.’
Atwood asked, ‘No one could get their eyes on it?’ to which Mel responded, ‘Well, she claims she just had her 50th birthday, but I don’t believe her.’
Heart Management issued an audition call in 1994 to develop a girl group to compete with prominent boybands of the time, which resulted in the Spice Girls.
They picked Geri Halliwell as Ginger Spice, Melanie Chisholm or Mel C as Sporty Spice, Victoria Beckham, Victoria Adams as Posh Spice, Melanie Brown or Mel B as Scary Spice, and Emma Bunton as Baby Spice.
All of the women were supposedly born between 1972 and 1976, with Geri being the group’s oldest at 22 when the Spice Girls released their first hit single Wannabe. But, if Mel is correct and Geri lied about her birthdate, she might have been substantially older than the rest of the group when they first formed.
Geri has spoken publicly about her age before, telling the Sunday Times: ‘I think it’s really important to celebrate our age. I’m happy I get to be this age.
‘I’ve just tried to keep myself as natural as possible. Each to their own and, who knows, in 10 years I may do something different. But I think there’s something really honest and beautiful when a woman still looks like herself.’
If her former bandmate’s charge is correct, it’s tough to think that Geri values honesty about her age as much as she professes.
Interestingly, Mel B was the only Spice Girl not present for Geri’s 50th birthday celebration. The other members of the band were all videotaped dancing to their own music, clearly having a good time at the high-profile party.
Geri hosted the party at her house, which she shares with her Formula One driver husband, Christian Horner.
During the remainder of Mel’s podcast interview, she also informed Olivia that, while a Spice Girls reunion is absolutely on the future, it will not take place at Glastonbury Music Festival.
She said: ‘I don’t think it’s going to be at Glastonbury but it’s definitely going to happen.’
Of course, that reunion is only possible if all the bandmates remain on good terms.
