The new 2021 Spice Girls documentary has got everyone talking about the band all over again.
They’re arguably still the most iconic girl group to have ever existed, and part of that is likely due to the relatively short amount of time they lasted.
After just a few short years together, Geri Halliwell decided to quit.
But what really happened, and do fans know the full story?
Why did Geri Halliwell leave the Spice Girls?
Geri infamously quit the Spice Girls at the height of their fame, on May 31, 1998.
The move came just days before the start of their sell-out U.S. tour, and it sent shockwaves around the globe.
At the time she quit, she made a statement that only partially revealed the truth.
It read: “This is a message to the fans. Sadly, I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls.
Read more: Spice Girls documentary: Mel B on what stopped her from taking her own life during abuse ordeal
“This is because of differences between us, I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best.”
Meanwhile, Geri was actually going through many personal battles when she made the life-changing decision.
She was suffering from an eating disorder at the time, but the rest of the band had no idea.
“Throughout my 20s, I had bulimia. Even when I’d recovered from it, I had a distant relationship with food,” she said.
“It’s bloody dangerous. I was worried I’d get fat. I would binge and then felt fatter and would make myself sick. It was awful.”
Spice Girls documentary 2021: What else has Geri said?
In 2007, Geri confessed that she felt as though she didn’t “belong” in the band anymore.
By the time of her last performance with the group, she had mentally checked out.
Sadly, none of the others were aware.
Speaking in the 2007 documentary Giving You Everything, Geri said: “I remember knowing in my heart in the days approaching that I was going to leave, and the song Viva Forever I was standing there thinking ‘Oh my god, this is the last time I’m going to perform this with them’. I’d given all I could.
“I felt like I didn’t belong anymore. They didn’t need me anymore, really, and I definitely felt very redundant.”
She concluded: “I kind of threw in the towel and gave up.”
Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham were taken by complete surprise.
None more so than Mel B, who was celebrating her birthday at the time and had hoped her four closest friends would be there with her.
“She left on my birthday and didn’t tell anybody,” she told American TV host Larry King.
“She just didn’t show up. We had the rest of the tour, the American part of the tour to continue.”
However, at the end of their reunion tour in 2019, Geri finally said something fans had been waiting for ever since she left.
She said “sorry”.
While on stage during their final song she addressed the crowing, saying: “I was just being a brat and I want to say it’s good to be back with the girls that I love and with you lot. Thank you!”
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