Wannabe in the know of what the Spice Girls are doing now? Ginger, Posh, Scary, Sporty,
and Baby Spice are doing a lot — and we've got all their stories, from A to Z.
It's not uncommon for girl bands to disband and try their hand at their respective solo
careers and such was the case for the Spice Girls. In 1998, Geri Horner was the first to
break away from the band at the height of their success. She released three solo albums in total,
with singles like "Look at Me," "Mi Chico Latino", and "Bag It Up" faring well in her home country.
Victoria Beckham released a solo album with moderate success, but she had better luck
with her fashion career. Melanie Brown went on to release two studio albums of her own,
leading to a single number-one U.K. hit, and three U.K. top-10 hits. Emma Bunton,
better known as "Baby Spice," released four studio albums, earning herself a number-one
hit on the U.K. charts in 2001 with her single, "What Took You So Long?" off her debut album.
Meanwhile, Melanie Chisholm, who went by "Sporty Spice," arguably went on to
achieve the most successful solo career with eight studio albums. She's also the
Spice Girl with the longest tenure as a solo artist, having sold over 20 million records,
scoring two number-one singles and six top-ten singles between 1999 and 2020.
Before she became known as "Ginger Spice," Geri Horner, previously Halliwell,
traveled around Europe, bouncing from job to job, taking on positions as varied as a topless model,
a TV hostess, and an aerobics teacher before a newspaper ad recruiting girls for a band changed
her life. In 2011, the former Spice Girl could add yet another job title to her long resume,
when she designed a swimsuit line for the British high street store, Next.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about "Geri by Next," she shared that her vision was
to create swimwear that flattered a variety of body types, stating,
"This is a collection that makes you look good and feel fabulous."
On the day of the launch, she even received support from her fellow bandmate and fashion
entrepreneur, Victoria Beckham. In a since-deleted tweet, she wrote,
"Good luck today, Geri with your launch!! Hope it goes well!"
Melanie Brown, commonly known by fans as Scary Spice, has had quite a rocky love
life in the public eye. The artist is most famously linked to her ex,
Eddie Murphy, and the two share a daughter, Angel Iris, together.
The former high-profile couple met in 2006 in Beverly Hills not long after
the actor had split with his ex-wife, Nicole Mitchell. Brown discussed their
whirlwind romance in her memoir, "Brutally Honest," where she wrote,
"It was as if a 2,000-volt electric current had passed between us."
Sadly, their relationship fizzled out almost as quickly as it began,
but not before igniting a paternity battle over their shared child. At the end of 2006,
Murphy confirmed to the Dutch TV show "RTL Boulevard" that he and the former Spice Girl
had split up. He also cast doubts as to the paternity of their unborn child, quipping,
"I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has
a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions."
Speaking to Essence in 2020, Brown claimed that she only
realized they had broken up when she read about him making this statement.
In 2009, Murphy was ordered to pay around $25,000 a month in child support in addition to health
insurance and education after paternity tests proved he was, in fact, the father. In 2020,
the drama continued with court documents obtained by Us Weekly showing that Brown was requesting
an increase in child support payments for their teenage daughter. Despite all this,
maybe Murphy is the one that got away for Mel B.
"Do you still love him?"
"Yeah, I always will."
"Are you still in love with him?"
"No, he has a lady, and a new baby – "
"It doesn't matter what he has!" " – and Angel's at his house right now."
"Posh Spice," aka Victoria Beckham, is known for a few things: being a former Spice Girl,
marrying soccer legend David Beckham, and, of course, for her iconic career in high fashion.
After the Spice Girls disbanded in 2001, Beckham went on to release her own solo album,
but her most notable work was her debut in the world of fashion. Her lengthy resume
also includes modeling on the runway at London Fashion Week and Milan Fashion week,
as well as once serving as an ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana. She's even tried her
hand at fashion editing by styling Katie Holmes for Harper's Bazaar.
In 2004, Beckham made her debut with a denim collection dubbed "VB
Rocks." She has expanded on her fashion credentials ever since,
broadening her apparel offerings, even going into accessories, fragrances, and beauty.
She debuted her own luxury line, "Victoria Beckham," at New York Fashion Week in 2008,
and she continues to design for it. However, in 2022, outlets like the Mirror reported
that the company was estimated to be in debt to the tune of £53.9 million.
Still, the Victoria Beckham Spring 2023 collection at least received a solid review
from Vogue a year later. During its preview, Beckham aptly quipped,
"Things feel perfectly complicated."
It's no secret that Melanie Chisholm had an impressive career as a solo artist
following her time as a Spice Girl. In 2004, after the release of her first solo album,
she failed to come to an agreement with her label, Virgin, about the direction of her
solo career. She decided to take matters into her own hands and start her own label instead.
Per the Southport Reporter, "Red Girl Records" was named after the club color of Chisholm's
favorite soccer team, Liverpool F.C., and also because of her habit of blushing. The
label officially debuted with the release of Chisholm's sophomore album "Beautiful
Intentions," in 2005. Since then, the star has enjoyed a reasonable amount of success,
including her single, "Rock Me," being chosen as the theme song for the 2011 Women's World Cup.
As Chisholm explained to Paper Magazine in 2018,
being a solo artist — and particularly one with her own label — has always been a liberating but
daunting pursuit. Regardless, she's always pushing forward. She said,
"You can only go where your heart leads you. If it works great. If it doesn't, it doesn't."
As for the future, she has no plans to stop creating. She told the magazine,
"This is when l am happiest — when l am on stage being myself, expressing myself the way l want to,
and connecting with the fans. [...] l just want to keep making music."
The Spice Girls brought their spice center stage when Melanie Brown and
Melanie Chisholm both competed on separate seasons of "Dancing with the Stars." Brown
made it all the way to the Season 5 finale before losing out on the viewer's vote after
a performance of the Mamba. The former Spice Girl was devastated by her loss,
saying during the episode that a win would have meant the world to her.
"To be embraced by America would be, speechless, I would actually be speechless."
Meanwhile, Chisholm competed on Season 30 of the show alongside her dance partner,
Gleb Savchenko. The duo placed eleventh in their season,
with the singer admitting to Page Six that she was crushed about her early departure.
"We just did not want to go home at this point. We
really thought and hoped we'd have a little bit longer in the competition."
It was only a matter of time before the Spice Girls became Spice Moms. Melanie Brown was
the first to give birth, celebrating the arrival of a daughter, Phoenix,
in 1999 with her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar. She went on to have two more daughters,
Angel with Eddie Murphy in 2007, and Madison with film producer Stephen Belafonte in 2011.
Victoria Beckham was the next in line to become a mother,
giving birth to her first child, son Brooklyn, with David Beckham, in 1999. She went on to have
four kids in total with the soccer star, welcoming three sons, and one daughter.
Meanwhile, Geri Horner shares a daughter, Bluebell, with her ex-partner, Sacha Gervasi,
and she shares a son with her husband, Christian Horner. The former Spice Girl
is also a stepmom to Christian's daughter, Beverley Allen. Horner admitted to Glamour
that she is open to the idea of more kids and would even consider adoption.
As for Melanie Chisholm, she shares her daughter, Scarlett, with her ex-husband,
Thomas Starr. During an appearance on "Desert Island Discs," she even
admitted that her daughter gave her the strength to split from the child's father,
upon realizing that she didn't want to raise her daughter in an unhappy marriage.
Emma Bunton, meanwhile, shares two sons with her husband, Jade Jones.
In 2017, Melanie Brown took her former nanny to court after alleging that the staff member had
an affair with her then-husband, Stephen Belafonte. According to court documents,
a Los Angeles judge ruled in favor of the former Spice Girl,
granting her a permanent restraining order against Lorraine Gilles for five years.
The judge had originally ordered that the former nanny was to remain 100 yards away from the
artist, as well as not take any of Brown's items from a storage locker under Gilles' name. Brown
claimed the locker in question contained a variety of sentimental items, including
Spice Girls memorabilia as well as sensitive materials such as sex tapes featuring the singer.
In 2019, however, Gilles won a $1.8 million defamation lawsuit against Brown,
after the performer had made claims that Gilles was a sex worker and that Belafonte
had gotten her pregnant. For her part, Gilles denied the accusations and claimed that during
her employment, she and Brown had engaged in a sexual relationship that lasted for seven years.
Brown previously alleged that Belafonte had been physically and emotionally abusive during their
ten-year relationship — including allegations that he forced her to make over 20 sex tapes,
per The Guardian. The film producer has always denied these claims. As of 2021,
Gilles appeared to still be in contact with Belafonte,
with paparazzi snapping her doing a FaceTime call with her former boss.
The Spice Girls may have reached the peak of their success decades ago,
but the ladies still have a lot to say. Each of the band members
has gone on to write a book about their respective experiences in the limelight.
In 1999, Geri Horner published her autobiography, "If Only," shortly after her decision to leave the
band. But the pop superstar also went on to become a successful children's book author. In 2008,
she released six books as part of her "Ugenia Lavender" series. Fourteen years later,
she then signed a two-book deal with Scholastic UK for more children's tales, starting with "Rosie
Frost and the Falcon Queen," about an orphan girl with extraordinary powers. Though Horner
is the only one to delve into children's books, all the Spice Girls went on to become authors.
Victoria Beckham debuted her own autobiography, "Learning to Fly" in 2001 along with a personal
fashion guide, "That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels, and Everything in Between," five years
later. In 2018, Melanie Brown released her memoir, "Brutally Honest" which detailed her
difficult past in abusive relationships amidst her highly public life. And in 2022, Melanie
Chisholm released her own memoir called "The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl." Meanwhile,
Emma Bunton took a different approach, with a 2021 book on parenting titled, "Mama You Got This."
"Baby Spice"
"And Scary Spice"
"From the Spice Girls!"
"Why are we shouting?"
"Because we always do that, it's just a thing!"
Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton made their Netflix debut in 2022 when they appeared in Season 4 of
"The Circle." The popular reality show sees competitors presenting either as themselves,
or other people, and deceiving others to befriend, flirt, or strategize their way to a
$100,000 cash prize. Playing as a team under the guise of a fake contestant called Jared,
the two weren't in the running to win any prize money. Instead,
if they succeeded in deceiving their fellow players, an additional $50,000 would be added
to the final cash prize. Luckily for the winner, they were successful in catfishing everyone.
"Winner winner chicken dinner"
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly,
Executive Producer Toni Ireland shared that the two had been fans of the show,
with Brown posting about watching it on Instagram. Ireland reached out to the pair,
who were keen to live the experience but didn't want to be on the show the entire time.
"The Circle" also offered a glimpse into the close friendship of the Spice Girls duo,
with their back-and-forth playing out as they created their fake character. Ireland shared,
"They were just a joy. They were so much fun and they had such a laugh together."
Emma Bunton's love life has always made headlines. Although she married her long-time partner,
Damage boy band member Jade Jones in 2021, the two had previously had a rocky start to their
relationship. They first broke up in 1999, after meeting a year earlier. They got back
together in 2000, split two years later, and have remained together since 2004.
In 2013, another British boy band member, Lee Brennan of 911,
claimed that the two had enjoyed a brief New Years fling in 1997. He told The Sun,
"I remember Emma and I going for a walk at midnight and there were no paps or anything so
we were really relaxed. [...] It was a really fun romance but it just kind of fizzled out."
As Bunton told the Express, there had been countless rumors about her love life during
the band's peak — but there was one false report she especially liked. She said,
"I was seeing Leonardo DiCaprio at one point, which was quite a good one."
Post-Spice Girls, she was rumored to have dated the soccer star Rio Ferdinand between
1999 and 2000, something she has never confirmed or denied. Meanwhile, in 2003,
Justin Timberlake reportedly blabbed to the tabloids about his brief relationship
with Baby Spice. Bunton was said to be furious, telling the Daily Record,
"A lady should never kiss and tell and neither should
a gentleman. That's all I have to say about him."
The Spice Girls made their way back onto the stage together, much to the excitement of
their beloved fans. Their first reunion tour, "The Return of the Spice Girls," was announced
in 2007 and included all the women from the group. Tickets for the iconic show were in
such high demand that their debut London date was said to have sold out within 38 seconds.
The band reunited once again in 2019 for a "Spice World" U.K. tour. The six-stop spectacle was the
first time the women had been back together since they performed at the closing ceremony
for the London Olympic Games in 2012. Due to her own career commitments, Victoria Beckham was sadly
missing from the tour. She explained her reasons for skipping it on "Watch What Happens Live."
"I had so much fun being in the Spice Girls, but you know [...] I couldn't commit to that."
As to whether another world tour with all the members of the group could happen,
Melanie Brown told BBC Radio 2 that there's still hope for another round.
"I wish I could say there were shows coming. But I can't, sadly. We do want to do shows,
they're just not arranged yet. We're constantly talking trying to work it
out and make it work for everybody. [...] That's my number one wish."
In 2003, Geri Horner enjoyed a cameo in "Sex and the City," as an old pal
of Samantha Jones. As she told Attitude, the 33-second role meant a lot to her. She said,
"I had been studying acting in LA. I love comedy and they asked me to audition, which I did, and I
got the role. I absolutely loved it, especially being part of a show that we all adore."
Six years later she scored an equally brief,
comedic appearance as the mom of a young Chev Chelios in "Crank 2: High Voltage."
In 2022, it was announced that the artist was cast in "Gran Turismo," a live-action adaptation
of the popular racing game. Geri's role in the film is fitting, given that her husband,
Christian Horner, is a former racer and the team principal of Red Bull's Formula One Team.
Fans will be happy to know that the Spice Girls remain close friends to this day. In 2022, Emma
Bunton told Radio X that the ladies had planned to go back on tour following their 2019 revival but
that the COVID-19 pandemic derailed any potential plans. Bunton expressed her excitement to do it
again, and Melanie Brown seconded the notion, teasing plans for a 2023 world tour to The Sun.
Despite some shake-ups and interpersonal drama in the past, the ladies of the Spice
Girls are all seemingly on good terms. Melanie Chisholm told the Mirror in 2020,
"We are probably closer now than we have been in a very long time — and that includes Victoria."
She also revealed that she's up for a reunion tour in the future with her former bandmates.
Bunton revealed on her Sunday Heart FM radio show that the ladies met up for
a socially-distanced hike together during the Coronavirus pandemic. It was a stark contrast
to the glam stage outfits they'd rocked together just a year earlier. She recalled,
"We were in wellies, walking in the rain... Yes,
something you don't see every day — five Spice Girls in their wellies!"
Since the Spice Girls disbanded, Melanie Chisholm has opened up about the toll that
fame took on her body issues. The former Spice Girl admitted that her experiences with an eating
disorder began early on in her singing career in 1994 when the group were known as "Touch."
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2022, the star claimed that managers made comments to her like,
"I'm surprised you can do backflips with thighs like that."
It led her to adopt extreme eating habits while undergoing
an intensive performance regimen. She explained,
"I started with the elimination of food groups. [...] I got to the point where,
for a couple of years, I was predominantly eating fruit and vegetables and that was it."
Her radical eating regimen eventually led to extreme binging and the issues of shame that came
along with it, before she sought professional help in 2000. Chisholm was prescribed anti-depressants
after she was diagnosed with depression, anorexia, a binge-eating disorder, and agoraphobia.
"I think having an eating disorder is the most miserable existence you can have."
Chisholm wants to shine a light on her past in the hopes of warning young,
aspiring artists. She admitted,
"I never want to look back on that time negatively, but it is important
for me to tell the difficult parts of my past. [...] Our culture has changed so
much and so many young people are hungry for fame. And I just want them to be prepared."
If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit
the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline
at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).