Victoria Beckham Recalls Geri Halliwell’s Unexpected and Abrupt Spice Girls Exit

Victoria Beckham is reflecting on Geri Halliwell’s exit from the Spice Girls.

During her Oct. 22 appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, the singer and fashion designer recounted unexpectedly losing a member of the iconic girl group.

Rising to immense fame after their start in 1994, the Spice Girls — Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie “Mel C” Chisholm, Melanie “Mel B” Brown and Beckham — redefined teen pop until Halliwell’s abrupt exit in 1998, which preceded the group’s eventual split.

When Cooper asked Beckham if she anticipated Halliwell’s departure, the designer said she and the other Spice Girls didn’t see it coming at all.

“She just left… She just left, and we did not have any idea until she just didn’t turn up,” Beckham shared.

Posh Spice added that she and Halliwell spoke the morning of the podcast taping and “even laughed about it” in hindsight. “We can laugh about it now,” she said.

When Halliwell left the Spice Girls in May 1998, she cited creative differences with the group, disillusionment and exhaustion as her reason for departing. The Spice Girls continued on as a four-person group afterwards and ultimately went on an indefinite hiatus in December 2000 — though they’ve since reunited for many reunion performances without Beckham.

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That time was challenging for Beckham for another reason too, she reminded listeners: in 1998, she was pregnant with her and her then-boyfriend David Beckham’s first child, Brooklyn. She was still touring during her pregnancy — at times, in a PVC catsuit, Beckham recalled.

“I was pregnant. It was an amphitheater, outdoor theater, and it was August. It was hot,” Beckham remembered. “And I had a bucket on the side of the stage and I would have to keep running off the stage [and] throw up. I had terrible morning sickness.”

“I was so sick with Brooklyn. And I remember saying to the tour manager, ‘I just can’t do it anymore,'” she added. “And he’d say, ‘You gotta do it. There’s only 103 more shows to go.'”

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At the end of those 103 shows, the group essentially disbanded, Beckham said. Around then, Beckham gave birth to Brooklyn and moved to Manchester, where David was playing for Manchester United. It was “quite the transition” for her, she said — going from world tours to supporting her partner’s professional career while caring for a newborn.

“It was difficult, you know, going from being in the band, traveling the world, being on stage with your best friends to all of a sudden being in a flat in Manchester on your own with a baby,” Beckham said. “It was tough.”