She was said to have been “hugely relieved” when her F1 boss husband was recently cleared of wrongdoing amid a “sexting” scandal and flew to Bahrain to be with him. But Geri Horner was quickly plunged into yet another crisis when Red Bull team leader Christian hit the headlines again after damning messages were leaked over social media.
Fans were shocked when the texts and photos, allegedly sent by the Red Bull racing boss to a female colleague over WhatsApp, emerged within hours of him being cleared of “coercive behaviour towards a female employee” after an internal investigation by the Austrian company.
Singer Geri was said to have been “extremely humiliated” by the leak, with a source saying, “She thought that it had all gone away. She was delighted when she learned Christian had been cleared. This will destroy her. All along, Christian promised there was nothing in it.”
The dossier, which was sent anonymously to Formula One team bosses, senior figures and journalists, seemingly contained screenshots of hundreds of messages as well as photos.
The drama, which erupted just as the new season of Formula One kicked off in Bahrain, sent shockwaves through the paddock and overshadowed the sport’s return. Christian insisted on his innocence, saying, “I won’t comment on anonymous speculation but, to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations.” He added, “I have a very supportive family and a very supportive wife.”
But relationship expert and psychologist Jo Hemmings tells Closer that she believes there’s no way back for the couple now.
Jo says, “Geri will be feeling a mix of emotions – she’ll be shocked, devastated, confused and utterly heartbroken. Over the past few years with Christian, she’d built up this picture-perfect lifestyle, she had everything she wanted and a happy family life, but it’s now in peril.
“When I work with couples in situations like these, it’s very hard – but it is possible to save the relationship with a lot of therapy and couples’ counselling. But if these alleged messages are genuine, then I don’t think this is salvageable – the trust will be totally gone. If that is the case then I think divorce is on the cards for them – there’s no way back.”
Jo adds that Geri can come back from this with a lot of work. She says, “The future may look uncertain for Geri, but she can get through this. I’d strongly advise a lot of counselling, for the reassurance that what happened was out of her control. She also needs a really strong support system around her – close family and friends she can lean on. It’ll take a lot of time to heal, but Geri can and will get through this and can find happiness in the future.”
As Closer went to press, Geri – who rose to fame in the Spice Girls alongside Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Mel C and Emma Bunton – had not addressed the scandal publicly. But the singer-turned-author has opened up recently about how her loved ones are everything to her. Mum to 17-year-old daughter Bluebell and seven-year-old son Monty, Geri is also stepmum to Christian’s daughter Olivia, 10. She said during a talk with the Oxford Union, “My family are very, very important to me. My children and my husband,” she said. “To have that, I am very proud of that. That is something I am very proud to have. When you know you are of service to someone else, you become driven.”
And she also spoke about rising up again after disappointments, saying, “I have had failures. I have fallen so many times, but the failures are my biggest lessons. There was a moment in time I didn’t listen to myself and that’s why I failed, and I keep going back to that,” she revealed. “There have been times I have stepped out of my comfort zone but my self worth goes up.”
She added, “There is always something to be done. I would say, ‘Don’t squander life, as life is such a gift’. I endeavour to make it count.”