Mel B has shocked Spice Girls fans by claiming that her former bandmate Geri Halliwell has lied about her age for years and is not actually 51 years old.
The singer, 48, explained that Geri, also known by her married name Geri Halliwell-Horner, was protective of her passport anytime the group travelled internationally, so she never saw proof of her bandmate’s date of birth.
Mel went on to say that despite Geri’s claims that she recently celebrated her 50th birthday, she has doubts that she was really 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.’
The Spice Girls were formed in 1994 by Heart Management who put out an audition call to assemble a girl group to compete with popular boybands of the day.
They chose Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie Chisholm or Mel C (Sporty Spice), Victoria Beckham, then Victoria Adams (Posh Spice), Melanie Brown or Mel B (Scary Spice), and Emma Bunton (Baby Spice).
All of the women were reportedly born between 1972 and 1976, making Geri the oldest of the group at just 22 when the Spice Girls dropped their first hit single Wannabe. But if Mel is right about Geri lying about her birthday, it’s possible that she was actually significantly older than the rest of the group at the time of their inception.
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 accusation is true, it’s difficult to believe that honesty about age is really as important to Geri as she claims.
Interestingly, Mel B was the only Spice Girl not pictured at Geri’s 50th birthday party. The other members of the band were all filmed dancing along to their own music, obviously having a blast at the high-profile bash.
The party took place at Geri’s home which she shares with her Formula 1 driver husband Christian Horner.
In the remainder of Mel’s podcast appearance, she also told Olivia that while a Spice Girls reunion is definitely on the horizon, it’s not going to happen 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.
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