There are some things we never really get over in life. It makes me a bit sad that toe rings and anklets aren’t cool anymore, Destiny’s Child were robbed at the 2001 AMAs and Gavin And Stacey ended a bit too soon, didn’t it? And although Directioners are still moping about the band’s ‘temporary hiatus’, the split of 1D has nothing on the emotional trauma provoked by Geri (then) Halliwell leaving the Spice Girls.
It was a dull, blustery morning on Sunday 31 May 1998, but an otherwise ordinary day. There was an air of suspicion around the Spice Girls at the time, though. Ginger Spice hadn’t turned up to a couple of concerts in Norway that weekand, what’s retrospectively possibly more troubling, she also missed an appearance on the National Lottery Show on Wednesday before. Tragic. Geri wasn’t around. It was definitely noticed. But was there trouble in the group? Maybe, we thought. But together the five of them represent the most powerful thing in the world. Girl Power. And nothing could possibly get in the way of a bond like that, right? Right, we hoped.
But then, the faux sheepskin rug was whipped from beneath our very feet. That afternoon it was announced that Geri was leaving the Spice Girls. Just like that. Gone. 5 became 4. Geri’s statement read: ‘Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I’m sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best… PS, I’ll be back’.
Geri did come back. But, as fan-fucking-tastic as the video to 'Look At Me' was, life just wasn’t the same. We never got over it. It shouldn’t have ended that way. So soon. So brash. So unexpected. And apparently, 19 years on, Geri feels the same way.
‘I think the best stuff comes when you're just being honest. Again, I didn't mean to upset anyone,’ she said in an interview for The Sun’s Bizarre Life podcast. ‘I don't want to hurt anyone's feeling and I'm sorry I disappointed the fans. Looking back, we can all be very wise in hindsight. I think, 'Ooh, I could have done that a bit better.”’
Thinking about it now, Geri thinks she probably shouldn’t have left ‘at such short notice’ but also explained that it was the Spice Girls’ new musical direction that had a huge impact on her decision to leave the group. Remember when Mel C, Mel B, Victoria and Emma tried to get down with kids for a little bit and released ‘Holler’ from their third album? (I’m guessing that someone in management told them that ‘holla’ was a term the American youths were using) Yeah. It seems that this is the vibe that was part of Geri’s reasoning.
‘They had to make that R&B album, which I’m not . . . I don’t know how to write R&B music, I really don’t. I don’t have that’, Geri explained. Which, to be honest, is fair enough. But if we’re all being totally honest there’s still a Ginger Spice shaped hole in our hearts that’ll never quite be filled. The GEM thing was nice for a moment, but here’s hoping if the group do decide to finally do that delayed 20th Anniversary reunion next year as a fivesome, please. But for now…
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.