Since iconic UK girl group the Spice Girls was founded in 1994, the quintet of superstar singers have weathered many a storm.
From the highest highs of success to in-fighting and petty feuds, breaking up, making up and doing it all over again, somehow, they’ve come full circle and are tighter than ever.
For Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton – aka Posh, Scary, Ginger, Sporty and Baby Spice – the “friendship never ends” indeed!
If there’s one thing you can count on with this group, it’s a public declaration of love and support to mark a special occasion – from birthdays to weddings.
Case in point: on January 21, the women took to social media to celebrate Emma’s milestone 50th birthday.
With Victoria and co. expected to attend Emma’s star-studded 50th birthday party on January 24, we take a look back at the band’s roller-coaster history.
Birthday tributes flow
As youngest band member Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton turned the big 5-0, social media was flooded with gushing tributes.
Mel C, 52, shared a video montage of highlights from their decades-long careers as she reflected on their many happy memories.
“We have experienced so much together since that day we picked you up in Geri’s battered Fiat Uno at Maidenhead station,” she captioned the video.
She added that was “the day that changed everything”.
Mel B, 50, posted a carousel of photos taken throughout their friendship.
“My dear ‘BUNTON’ you will always be BABY to me even though you are now the big 50!!!!!!!” she wrote.
She also sent in a special video message which was played during Emma’s Heart Radio show.
Geri, 53, also made sure to mark the milestone, with three fun snaps from the past 30-odd years.
In the accompanying caption, she called her former bandmate “such a special person with the biggest heart”.
Returning to social media post after son Brooklyn Beckham’s scathing attack of his parents, Victoria, 51, shared an Instagram Story.
Wishing her pal a happy birthday, she declared, “I love you so much!!”
She followed it up with a clip of the band’s Say You’ll Be There video.
Reunion tour contention
For years, the women have teased the possibility of a long-awaited reunion tour.
But there’s one person who continues to hold out: Victoria.
Now a successful fashion designer and with a popular beauty range, she’s made it clear that that part of her life is behind her.
Promoting her Netflix documentary Victoria Beckham on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy in October 2025, Victoria made her stance clear.
“Before I was in the Spice Girls, I was so self-conscious and they made me feel that I was good enough,” she explained.
“But being on stage, I realised as fun as it is, you know, it’s not ultimately what I want to do anymore.”
As for the possibility of a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, she said while it was “tempting”, she didn’t have it in her anymore.
“It would be tempting, but could I take on a world tour? I can’t,” she said. “I have a job.”
Mel B and Geri butt heads
The two most outspoken members of the group, Mel B and Geri, have famously butted heads for years.
And it’s this tension that is allegedly the reason Geri pulled out of talks for a reunion tour.
In August 2024, amid struggles in her marriage to former Red Bull Formula 1 CEO Christian Horner, Geri reportedly “lost patience” with Mel B’s “little digs and jibes”.
“She’s walked away and, without Geri, it’s really not going to happen,” a source told the MailOnline.
“She doesn’t want to deal with Mel at all at the moment, let alone share a stage with her.”
Just a week earlier, Mel B wished her a “Happy 75th bday Ginge” with a series of unflattering photos.
“They’ve always had a tricky relationship, but this has got … messy now,” a source told the outlet.
The dig about Geri’s age came after Mel B playfully claimed “no-one knows how old Geri is”.
“No-one’s seen her passport,” she told the So Wrong It’s Right podcast.
“I mean, I know we’ve travelled the world, but I still don’t know how old she is.
“Well, she claims she just had her 50th birthday.”
Geri’s unorthodox hiring
Geri undoubtedly became the poster child for the Spice Girls thanks to her vivacious personality and that iconic Union Jack dress.
However, her inclusion in the group didn’t initially go down well.
Victoria, Emma, Mel B and Mel C were all professionally trained and auditioned for their spots in the manufactured girl group.
Skipping the open auditions, Geri instead allegedly bombarded Heart Management with requests for a meeting.
It worked, and she was put through to callbacks with the other girls who had progressed through the audition process.
However, in a memo obtained by The Sun, their manager Bob Herbert allegedly planned on axing the star before launching the band.
Fortunately, Geri is said to have caught wind of the plan and steered the group to leave Heart Management.
Subsequently, they signed with Simon Fuller to release their debut single, Wannabe.
The life and soul of the band, Geri cemented her place in the annals of pop culture when she donned a tiny Union Jack minidress for the 1997 BRIT Awards.
Geri sensationally quits the band!
Despite the enormous international success of the group since the launch of debut single Wannabe in 1996, Geri wasn’t happy.
On May 31, 1998, while the band was in the middle of a world tour, she shocked fans by announcing her departure.
She cited “creative differences” as the reason for leaving, later adding she was suffering from exhaustion and disillusionment.
Rumours abounded of a power struggle between Geri and Mel B, not helped by the fact she actually left the band on Mel’s birthday.
“When Geri left the group, it was bad,” Mel B said.
“She left on my birthday and didn’t tell anybody. She didn’t show up. We had the American part of the tour to continue.”
Mel C didn’t hold back in her criticism of the star, calling her “untalented” during a 2003 interview.
Responding to a question on CD:UK as to whether Geri was qualified to be critiquing other pop artists, Mel C made her feelings clear.
“My personal opinion is that I don’t think that she does, I don’t think she is of talent,” she stated.
The success of the band would suggest otherwise!
Reunited – for one night only
In 2012, the five-piece group made headlines worldwide when they reunited for the London Olympics closing ceremony.
The performance, featuring entrances atop iconic black cabs, was quite simply legendary.
Each woman paid tribute to their famous Spice Girl persona, dressed in elevated, designer versions of their old costumes.
More than a billion eyes were on them as they performed hits Wannabe and Spice Up Your Life.
Even then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson and then-Prime Minister David Cameron were spotted dancing from their VIP seats in the crowd.
Victoria bows out of Spice World tour
In 2019, Mel B, Emma, Mel C and Geri formed a foursome to perform their Spice World tour.
With Victoria having reinvented herself as a serious fashion designer, she chose not to be a part of the tour.
However, with Victoria apparently having initially said she was onboard, this led to a row between her and Mel B.
“The girls are furious with Victoria for initially agreeing to reunite,” a source claimed at the time.
In an interview with British Vogue in February 2019, however, Victoria insisted, “I’m not going on tour.”
Victoria was said to be “furious” herself with Mel B constantly discussing a Spice Girls reunion, saying it made her look bad.
She insisted she “never agreed” to a reunion tour, said a source.
“Victoria was always up for a catch-up and the prospect of a celebration of the band’s work,” the source noted.
“But going out on the road for concerts was never something she agreed to.”
While the tour went on minus Victoria, a source told The Sun in 2019 that Mel B and Geri “couldn’t be more divided”.
“Everyone involved is braced for some epic arguments once they’re back together,” they said.
Romance revelation the final nail in the coffin
In 2019, prior to the tour, Mel B made the shock revelation that she and Geri had been involved romantically during the 1990s.
Mel’s candid confession of a one-off fling on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories was said to have made Geri – now married with two children – “livid”.
“She’s going to hate me for this, because she’s all posh in her country house with her husband,” Mel began.
“But it’s a fact. It just happened, and we just giggled at it and that was it.”
A week later, Geri responded vis a spokesperson, who said she was “disappointed” to read the rumours on Mother’s Day “of all days”.
“[Geri] would like [the fans] to know that what has been reposed recently is simply not true and has been very hurtful to her family,” they said.
Playing nice at Victoria’s 50th
The last time all five women were in the same room together was at Victoria’s 50th birthday party in April 2024.
While Mel B reportedly tried to “smooth things over” with Geri at the bash, relations were “frosty” between the pair.
“It didn’t go as planned,” a source told The Sun.
“She was laughing it all off, but Geri didn’t seem interested in hearing what [Mel] had to say and wandered off.”
As for taking their group picture, the source noted that Geri avoided posing next to Mel B which, they say, was “awkward to watch”.
“Geri wanted to be there to celebrate and have a good laugh with everyone, not talk to Mel about the embarrassing thins she’s said about her.”
Leaked text scandal
Later in 2024, private texts between the bandmates were revealed as part of a US defamation case.
The texts included Mel B telling Geri and Emma that “charity doesn’t pay the bills” during an alleged discussion of a reunion tour, The Sun reported.
A further email chain saw the women gossiping about how Victoria acted at the premiere of West End musical Viva Forever! in December 2012.
The curtain call was delayed by 15 minutes after the designer allegedly got caught in traffic.
She then sat two rows behind the rest of the group with husband David and their children, which was said to have infuriated Mel B no end.
