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Mel B has shocked Spice Girls fans by saying that her former bandmate Geri Halliwell has falsely claimed to be 51 years old for many years.
The singer, 48, explained that Geri, also known as Geri Halliwell-Horner, was protective of her passport when the group traveled internationally, so Mel never saw proof of her bandmate’s birthdate.
Mel also said that despite Geri’s claims of celebrating her 50th birthday recently, she has doubts that Geri was truly 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 incorrect. 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, stating, ‘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 traveled 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, also known as 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 released their first hit single Wannabe. However, if Mel is correct about Geri lying about her birthday, it’s possible that she was actually significantly older than the rest of the group when they started.
Geri has previously discussed her age, 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 Mel's accusation about her former bandmate is accurate, it’s hard to believe that honesty about age is truly 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 musicclearly having a great time at the important party.
The event occurred at Geri’s residence where she lives with her spouse who is a Formula 1 driver Christian Horner.
In the rest of Mel’s podcast interview, she also informed Olivia that although a Spice Girls gathering is definitely in the future, it won’t happen at Glastonbury Music Festival.
She stated: ‘I don’t think it will be at Glastonbury but it will definitely occur.’
Naturally, that reunion can only happen if all the band members continue to have a good relationship.
