They invented “girl power” when they shot to fame in 1996, and went on to change the face of pop forever with a string of hits making them the best-selling girl group of all time.
But the meteoric rise of the Spice Girls wasn’t without its problems and relations between the five girls have sometimes been notoriously strained, particularly between “Scary” Mel B and “Posh” Victoria Beckham, whose bitter feuding is widely believed to have been the sticking point that stopped the latter joining the band for their most recent reunions.
However, in a shock U-turn, insiders say that Mel, 48, and Posh, 49, have now rekindled their friendship and are back to being close friends after Mel admitted that she’d asked her old frenemy to design her wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials to hairstylist Rory McPhee – who she’s been with since 2018 and became engaged to last year.
And while the other Spice Girls – Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Horner – are glad that the girls are back on good terms, sources claim that the pair’s reunion is threatening to cause fresh drama.
Our insider tells Closer, “There’s no question Mel and Vic have had the most ups and downs out of all the girls, but it seems as though they’re finally on the same page. Unfortunately, rather than creating peace with their other bandmates, it seems to be ruffling some feathers.
“When they join forces, Mel and Vic can be quite a formidable duo. In fact, behind the scenes of their latest reunion plans, the others feel like it’s already become the ‘Vic and Mel show’, with them calling the shots. It’s left them on edge.”
According to Mel B’s memoir To Catch A Fire, released in 2019, she and Victoria first fell out back in 1995 during a group holiday to Hawaii when Posh witnessed Scary’s holiday fling pooing on the beach and called him “disgusting”. Following years of on/off friendship, their relationship then hit a new low when Victoria refused to take part in the band’s reunion tour in 2019, reportedly prompting Mel B to say, “F**k off, you b***h!”.
More recently however, the pair have been on good terms after Victoria extended an olive branch following Mel’s divorce from husband of 10 years Stephen Belafonte after she made claims of emotional and physical abuse − something he has denied.
In 2022, when Mel was made an MBE, she wore a red dress designed by Victoria to the awards ceremony and paid tribute to her former bandmate on Instagram, writing, “My Spice sister Vic, I can’t thank you enough… wowza 25 years of friendship and we still like each other, haha I love you lots”, to which Victoria responded, “A true role model, it was such an honour to dress you and your mum”.
And now insiders say that Mel hopes their rekindled friendship means she’ll be able to convince her bandmate to get back on board and reunite with the Spice Girls.
The insider says, “They’ve been speaking a lot more as they plan the wedding dress and they’re really bonding. Mel has been using it as an opportunity to persuade Victoria to do more with the girls and even perform – which is something Vic has always refused to do, saying those days are behind her.”
Mel has also had a difficult relationship with Geri, 51, over the years, with Mel claiming the pair had a one-night stand in the late ‘90s, despite Geri rejecting the claim.
The source adds that Geri especially has felt awkward about Victoria and Mel’s reunion, saying, “Both Victoria and Mel have got very strong personalities and they’ve already started calling the shots regarding reunion plans in the group chat. Geri’s nose has really been put out of joint because she has a lot going on with family commitments and wants to prioritise her husband Christian, so she will see something Mel and Victoria have agreed on without asking her and get understandably miffed.
“Mel doesn’t see what the issue is because she’s said Victoria has always been the one to say no, and now she feels like she’s the only one who can make it all happen.
“Even though Mel thinks she’s on to a winner this time, their management are worried that if the other girls feel left out, another big feud will explode.”