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Spice Girls back Theresa May and call on the country to come together to end Brexit divisiveness
SPICE GIRLS mania returned to Britain this weekend as the world’s most successful girl group ever sold more than 600,000 tickets to a fast-growing stadium tour.
But as Baby, Sporty, Scary and Ginger tell me, that is no longer down to Girl Power.
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“It’s people power. We’re about equality and bringing everyone together,” Emma Bunton declares.
The reunited group — down to four with Posh Spice Victoria Beckham sitting out for now — are on a much bigger mission to unite a divided country through unadulterated, joyful fun.
Two decades on from when they dominated pop with huge hits including Wannabe, Spice Up Your Life and 2 Become 1, any suggestion the girls would be less outspoken are immediately put to rest.
While they are currently the most popular women in the country, they provide a much-needed boost to Theresa May, who is certainly not in the same boat.
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Asked about the PM, Geri Horner, 46, speaks passionately for the band when she says: “Britain, come together whatever it is, come together and sort our solutions out together, that’s the most important thing.
“We don’t have to agree on politics, it’s bigger than that. You can just support a woman doing the best she can and that’s it. Not an easy position.
"Can you imagine being that? Yeah, not easy.”
And Mel C, 44, known for her backflips during energetic dance routines, adds of the Maybot: “She’s a great dancer.”
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Mrs May is the second female Prime Minister to win the group’s endorsement.
In 1996 they declared Margaret Thatcher to have been the original Spice Girl.
And that same year, Victoria, now 44, said the EU had been a “terrible trick on the British people”, with Euro bureaucrats “destroying every bit of national identity and individuality”.
When it comes to Brexit today, the group simply call on the country to unite, with Geri saying “the outcome is the outcome”.
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Spice Girls announce their UK tour with epic new video
She adds: “The most important thing is let’s stop the divisiveness, come together.
“I can honestly say, what I’m so proud about us lot, we have different views, we do argue.”
Emma, 42, adds: “But we respect our differences and I think that’s what’s important.”
“Yeah,” Geri continues. “And we’re just managing to work through those differences and that is the important thing.”
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Something inexplicable happens when the Spice Girls come together.
Baby Spice Emma, with her newly pink hair, says her other half refers to it as a “punch in the face” when they walk into a room together.
“It’s like really quite powerful,” she adds.
Mel C and Mel B arrive first to meet me in front of the cameras for ITV’s Lorraine show, and the cheeky jibes and constant laughter begin.
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“I’ve always said we were the professional ones,” bellows Mel B, 43, in a broad Yorkshire accent not softened by more than a decade living in the US.
When Emma and Geri arrive minutes later, an electric energy transports me back to the Nineties whirlwind of Union Flag dresses, platform shoes and a new breed of female empowerment.
Now they hope their reunion can help move the #MeToo movement — which has dominated the conversation about how women are treated in society over the past year — to a more positive place.
Geri says: “If we use the word feminism, OK, look it up in the dictionary and it means the equalisation between women and men. It’s everybody.
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Mel B chips in: “But you said that in Spice World.”
Geri continues: “Exactly. So we want to move that conversation on, move it forward.
“The last year was very dark, the whole #MeToo thing, but it had to happen.
“Honesty is paramount to healing but then we move into the light. The Spice World philosophy is let’s get into the solution now. Let’s be positive. We’ve got each other, we care about you.”
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Emma adds: “We’ve been talking about that a lot. We want to bring lightness now — that’s really important to us — and joy.”
Geri says: “Everybody matters to us. It’s the philosophy of Spice Up Your Life. Every boy, every girl, it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you are, everybody’s welcome.”
That includes Victoria, who the rest of the band still hope will join the reunion in some form.
Geri, Mel C and Emma met up with her in London days before The Sun revealed the reunion plans to make sure she felt included.
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Geri says: “The five of us have always had this thing where we support each other on and off the stage.
“We did speak to her and meet up with her and we said, ‘Look, you’re in the band, on and off the stage it doesn’t matter’. And she was just really supportive.
“In life you get to a point where you want everybody to be happy and feel comfortable and things change, and she was just really positive.”
But, I ask, does she not have the easiest job in the world, given she will be making a whole lot of money through the reunion for doing no work?
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Mel C answers: “Well, you know, that’s debatable, but the thing is we’re very proud of Victoria.
“She works incredibly hard and what she’s achieved is amazing and she will always be a Spice Girl.”
Mel B has not given up on Victoria becoming an official part of the reunion, which she thinks could get even bigger.
She says: “I’m always hopeful that we’re going to get back together, all of us and perform, tour America and do everything else.”
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Geri giggles then says to Mel B: “Do you know what I love about you? You’re just straight up about it.”
Mel B replies: “I’ve been saying it enough and it’s finally happened so it’s going to work at some point.”
Getting the band together has been a six-year project from the moment of their last performance at the London Olympics in 2012.
Geri recalls: “It has been a long road and we’re going to put the record straight, OK.
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“Melanie B and Emma have been pushing this since 2012. And then obviously it’s got to be right for all of us and then, finally, the stars aligned.”
As Ginger turns to Sporty — who had been wavering on the reunion — she adds: “We went around Melanie’s, to your kitchen, and had a little chat.
“I think the real truth of it is we actually really love each. We just got together and we all hugged each other.”
Mel C describes the moment they officially reunited as “totes emosh”, while Emma adds: “We screamed, we cried.”
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The tour, which begins in Manchester in May, will be a family affair this time around.
Mel B says: “My 19-year-old Phoenix said, ‘Mum you are so cool now because you lot are vintage’. I’ll go with that. We’ve come back around in time.”
Their families are expected to travel with the band on the road, with Mel B adding: “I’m forcing all of my kids — you WILL watch the Spice Girls!” Emma says: “Me too, my kids love, love music. They will definitely be on tour with us.”
For Mel B, the tour will provide comfort after a torrid two years, where her marriage to Stephen Belafonte ended amid accusations of years of emotional abuse.
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Scary is passionate about the women’s Power Up charity the band are supporting with Comic Relief using the hashtag #IWannaBeASpiceGirl.
She says: “We found out that three women die every week from domestic violence because they take their own lives. It’s horrendous.”
And returning to their new theme, Geri adds: “We all know that the Spice Girls stand for equality for all, OK?”
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- You can watch portions of this interview on ITV’s Lorraine show tomorrow from 8.30am.
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Emma says: “Wasn’t it such a wonderful day?
“I loved watching it. I am so proud of them both.”
Mel B adds: “Love story.”
Geri reveals: “We all dressed up. I think we’re really proud. You know when you know somebody from a young boy, to see him find happiness is a beautiful thing.
“And what a modern couple that’s so inspirational, brilliant.”
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