All language subtitles for Spice.Girls.How.Girl.Power.Changed.Britain.S01E02.720p.ALL4.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV

Good evening,

I'm speaking to you from outside the Opera
House here in Manchester, but tonight

it's the home of the
Royal Gala performance.

We were getting ready for the Royal
Variety performance in some hotel room.

Doing make -up and hair, all piled in,
quick, get ready, you know.

It was a laugh and a joke
every minute of every day,

and humour really got us through

some good times and some
sometimes quite hard times.

And we used to have this
thing called King Dare.

So you'd say, King Dare?

Who's going to do the King Dare today?

So it would be somebody who was
picked on to do the King Dare.

You want to do it here with us, too?

OK.

And I think Geri did do
quite a lot of good King Dares.

And I said to Geri, I dare
you to kiss Prince Charles.

Cos, you know, you can't go near him.

And she was like, yeah, all right.

I was putting so much red lipstick on

her and so much gloss on her lips
that they were literally dripping.

I was thinking, she's not
really going to do it.

She can't do that.

You're just not allowed to.

I can remember sitting
backstage and all I heard was,

she's only gone and done it, hasn't she?

I think they've done
that quite a few times.

They would do that to anybody that was of
high social status, I suppose,

they would just bring them
right back down to their level.

To be honest, I don't even think the
girls give a shit about anything.

They didn't.

Because there's five of them,
they were in a gang,

so they could kind of like control

things together collectively
they were forced to be reckoned with

and i think this got the backup of a

lot of people that must
have felt threatened by them

live from the mgm grand garden

arena in las vegas it's the
1997 billboard music awards

the american billboard awards is a
hugely prestigious event

with all the big names and the
big boy bands turning up.

And we're the Backstreet Boys.

But in 1997, there was a new edition.

This is Iain Jerry.

He spoke to me through my media and said,

''Hey, Jerry, wear my suit
tonight cos Viva Las Vegas!''

She digged it out before,
yeah, you knew how drunk.

The second time I met the
Spice Girls was in Vegas.

Jerry was dressed like Elvis.

I remember that really clearly.

And the winner is...

Spice Girls.

They'd just sacked Simon
Fuller, and so then, you know,

the press started coming
out with, you know,

they're not going to be as
good, da -da -da -da -da.

Now, at the minute, in Britain,

there has been a bit of
backlash against you.

The backlash has picked up.

We just wish that the
press would put more fact,

do you know what I mean?

You know, it's just...

But at the end of the day, it
doesn't really matter,

because I think, you know,
our fans aren't stupid

and they've got their own
brains, do you know what I mean?

We love them, that's it.

We forget how powerful the tabloids were.

How are we?

Good?

Hello.

These endless questions of when
we're going to split up, you know,

how long's a piece of...

But I think even if Spice Girls
did kind of go their own way,

we are fundamentally friends,

so Spice Girls would
always be together anyway.

It might not be
necessarily in the public eye,

But on a friendship level, we
would never break up.

Society loves to pit
women against each other.

Women of our generation, we've grown up
to be in competition with each other.

It was all about beauty competitions, modelling competitions, you know, supermodels.

Whereas the Spice Girls were the opposite.

We feel really proud that there are so
many girl groups out there.

Not that time.

Yeah, they're not
trying to be Spice Girls,

they're individuals and they
should be treated like that.

There is no competition, there is just
respect and admiration and camaraderie.

It's only the press that
choose to build that.

It's you that create that to make a story.

If you actually saw behind the scenes,
it's completely different.

We support each other.

They had each other's back and
that was why they were so powerful.

It's much harder to call things
out when you're on your own.

It took five women to have a
voice of one woman in the 90s.

As the pressure heats up in the press,

the Spice Girls are
forced to defend themselves

after sacking their manager.

Back in November, there was a big hate
campaign in a certain tabloid newspaper,

Mr Right,

and we were the happiest we could have
been during that period within ourselves,

so you couldn't be further wrong, I
think you just rise above it.

Or was that when we got rid?

Yeah, we got rid.

That's good.

I was brought in there just after
they'd parted company with Simon Fuller.

A lot of the time you're having to break

not very nice stories to the
girls when the media

call you with something.

You do end up feeling very
protective of your clients.

I think the

media would say that I'm probably
very tough, maybe difficult.

I mean, listen, I've been

called plenty of different
names over the years.

But I think if a male PR is dealing

with stories and dealing with the
media and it's quite tough,

they're treated with a lot

of respect and they're regarded as being,
you know, good at what they do.

Whereas I

think as a woman, if you're
quite tough, you're, you know,

you're kind of regarded as being

a bitch.

In the early days of the Spice Girls,

there were quite a lot of men
that I would be talking to,

whether on the PR or
management or whatever.

Here we are, 30 or 40, or
perhaps even 50 -something men,

talking about an act that really doesn't
have any connection with us at all.

So we didn't have to pretend.

It was business, but
done in a very nice way.

With Caroline McAteer's arrival, it
just stopped being affable.

It went from fun to nasty overnight.

The Spice Girls have been booed for
delaying an awards ceremony in Barcelona.

The group refused to perform unless

all photographers were
removed from the auditorium.

When they finally came on
stage, the reaction was mixed.

After they'd sung, it was no better.

Does last night's hostile reception
mean they're losing their touch?

Showbiz editor Matthew
Wright has been waging

all -out war against the girls this week.

No, I'm not reading, I don't read my
stories out on camera, sorry, that's, no,

no, no,

because that's a classic stitch -up,
I've seen it happen so many times, so no.

Want to hear the Spice
Girls getting booed?

Just call our Wannaboo hotline
below to hear the audience in Spain.

There's so many signs that you can
see that indicate this sort of,

the sort of Spice
Mania is beginning to go.

Why go on flogging a dead horse?

I was a tour manager.

They needed someone to come in and

basically organise the world
tour and coordinate everything.

I mean, actually, the show was
really important to them.

They were working ridiculously hard,
doing interviews constantly,

and the press attention was
ridiculously extreme.

Whatever happened was just
magnified into making a story.

Does anyone have a good word to
say about the Spice Girls?

No, I'm sorry, but there was
nothing good about the Spice Girls.

I'm sorry.

Nothing.

I think they're talentless, really.

They just look good, don't they?

But it did become very personal

and started to be a little
bit more unkind individually.

And it went through all of the
girls in different times,

depending on whatever had happened in
their kind of private lives.

It really started to get nasty.

Oh, I know that chest.

Is it Ginger Spice?

Hang on, I'll just check.

I bought this bag.

Some of the mistreatment, particularly by
male journalists and the media,

came from fear, I think.

I think people are intimidated and fearful

of a powerful group of young women.

Welcome to Merry Mind the Buscocks,

the special Christmas pop quiz that
says there's no -one quite like Grandma,

though Ginger Spice is
catching up pretty quickly.

Is this Andy Gray or is it Ginger
Spice without the make -up?

I remember Geri particularly
found it the most challenging.

She was a powerhouse because she was very,

very upfront and very
outgoing and very vocal.

The press decided that
she was like the bully.

Because everyone said that it was
Geri that got rid of Simon.

No, it wasn't.

Is that true?

With everything we do,
there's five people,

a decision can't just be
made by one person.

It wears you down.

You know, it's accumulative.

And I remember her
being a lot more reserved,

you know, as the European tour went on.

It wasn't just the press.

Some in the music industry were
starting to pile in.

Are they as young as they say?

That's what I want to know.

I'll tell you this,
right, if Jenny Spice is 24,

then she's going to look
f***ing rough when she's 30.

It was just constant, constant, constant.

Then obviously it
becomes a little fraught.

It created tensions between all the girls.

We were on the European leg of the tour.

One of the scenes during the
show was basically a café type scene

and the girls were dressed as waitresses.

Geri would wear the same costumes and
do the same performance each night.

I was photographing Geri on
stage and she had a red top on,

sort of hot pants,

roller blades and she was carrying a

tray and she's rolling around and

it's like you're following
her around the stage

and then she just sat down on the chair,

she looked me straight in the eye and

I'm done with the pictures and
then next frame she's just going

And I was like, oh my
god, what's happened?

And I knew I'd got a moment that I didn't
really quite understand at that time.

The girls were all very secretive, but I
could see there was discord.

And we finished the gig,
finished the concert.

We all then jumped into our cars and left.

This lifestyle brings out the
best and worst in everybody.

It sort of accelerates, you know,
your extremes of personalities.

It's so easy to get lost, it's so
easy to not keep your feet on the ground.

The next day,

we all went back to work at the
BBC and Jerry wasn't there.

and so there was our room full of
glam and then the other room was full of

lawyers and stuff and no
one knew what was going on.

Nobody. But we had a show to do so

the show must go on and I think
some excuse was probably made.

Ten million pounds so spice up your life
it's the midweek National Lottery draw.

The girls sat us all down and just said,
have any of you spoken to Gerry?

Do you know where

she is?

Today is the 28th of May.

I'm in Paris and yesterday

I left the Spice Girls permanently.

Jerry has asked me to read the following
statement and these are her words.

This is a message to the fans.

Sadly, I would like to confirm
that I have left the Spice Girls.

Something has changed, hasn't it?

There's something different, isn't there?

There's more room on the couch.

Where's Jerry gone?

Where's Jerry gone?

Where's Jerry gone?

Jerry Halliwell, otherwise
known as Ginger Spice,

has confirmed that she
has left the Spice Girls.

I think everything was fine with Five

and she's sort of letting the
whole country down.

My favourite, Spice Girls!

I don't know if she's ever
going to come back sort of thing.

When Gerry left the
band, I, as a, I guess,

ten -year -old went into
tinfoil hat mode and

refused to believe it.

Then it dawned on me that this was
true, at which point I took

to my bed for, I'm going to say, two days,

which then reached a boiling point when my

poor well -meaning mother
came in and said, well, you know,

there'll be other bands, there'll

There'll be another band that
you'll love, and I said, like, who?

And she said, The Witched.

But I think for a lot of people, it felt
like a betrayal of what the band meant.

When you're nine years old and someone
tells you friendship never ends,

I think you want to believe
that and you believe that.

Why does it make you cry?

Why do you care so much?

Well, I just...

I just remember all the
good things they've done.

I'd like to invite Jerry Halliwell to
help me sell the final lot of the sale.

And I will start the
bidding on this lot at...

4 ,200

4 ,800 5 ,000

25 ,000

32 ,000 on the telephone

34 ,000 I'm bid

36 ,200

Jerry's selling

Excellent!

Geri!

Geri!

Thank you, your Honour.

Excuse me, excuse me.

We saw you in Paris, you were wonderful.

Thank you.

She's always wonderful.

That was probably my first
full -on media scrum.

It's always a clusterfuck.

I was Geri's publicist.

When she left the Spice Girls,

there was a huge amount of media interest.

Geri obviously was used to that.

I was playing catch -up to begin with

because, I mean, it's another world.

Geri, just stay there.

Geri, just stop and be patient.

Her world turned upside down in a day and
everything she knew had gone, her support

structure had gone, and she had to rebuild
it and transition from being in what was

then the biggest girl group in the
world to being a solo individual.

My final guest has lived the classic
rags to riches showbiz story.

She's the girl who

walked away from the Spice Girls.

Why, well, let's ask her.

Welcome, please, Geri Halliwell.

Jerry's life after the
Spice Girls had two sides.

There was the public -facing persona,
where she was confident and in control,

and the

more private, vulnerable side
that was captured in a documentary.

The four remaining Spice Girls begin

the American leg of their
world tour, with camera crews

She's following their every move.

Hello.

How long was the flight?

Nine hours?

So we feel really good.

Nine hours.

Shouting the Spice Girls' slogan, Girl Power, fans are revved up to see the stars.

It's their first appearance
since Ginger Spice left.

It's up to baby, posh, scary and
sporty Spice to keep the fans happy.

I like Ginger.

I think she's the best one.

I think she should
really be here for the fans,

but she wants to do what she wants to do.

It's a free country.

It won't be that good, because it'll
just be, like, skipping a part.

I'm on tour with the girls.

My day consisted of doing
make -up in a little room.

Can you put a bit of this on?

And that is it, because they're
going to sweat a lot, you see,

so you can't put a lot on them.

Done.

More lashes, though.

I can remember what their
bowl looked like in Miami,

in my head, looking it out.

The girls went on stage and
did a blinding show

and it was like she had never been there.

It was the weirdest sensation.

They'd filled the gap of her and

it still worked and it was
really bizarre because you

thought it would be broken but it wasn't.

I read in a Sunday Times
paper in this interview,

and it said, Melanie B, quote,

''Oh, we're stronger than
ever since Geri's left.

''We don't need her any more.''

And to be honest,
that says it absolutely all.

That says absolutely everything.

We don't need her any more.

We'd always stay at the Four Seasons in

New York City and I can
remember David Beckham

being there.

I think he'd just been booed or
something from some football tournament

and I thought that Victoria and
David would go the distance.

You could see that they were

a really good match.

I was helping her kind of make a plan

to meet up with him and
she was telling me what her

plans were and stuff like that.

It was really exciting.

It was really lovely.

Just an exciting

new boyfriend.

And did you know who he was?

Ish.

I mean, she told me who he was, but he
wasn't David Beckham.

He was just David who

paid for Man U and he
wasn't as big as he got to be.

Yeah, it was just nice for her,

excited for her and it was nice that she
would tell me you know she's going to

see him and bought her a handbag

and that's when their lives
started to become bigger

when lots of boyfriends came along and it
kind of changes the dynamics and it's

not just about the band it's just part of
growing up in it in a group of with a

group of people that you can't stay just
busy mates forever so it's just a normal

Victoria's engagement to David Beckham

sparks a media frenzy

with everyone wanting to
know every detail.

I'm embarrassed now.

Stop it.

Did somebody fix you up or
did he just come over to you?

I went over to him.

Well, I said to him, so you're going to
come down and sort of, you know,

take me out type thing.

You said that?

Yeah.

And what's going to happen
when you get married?

Nothing will really change.

I mean, you know, he really
understands that I want a career.

Yeah,

I mean he would never expect me to

kind of you know stop doing everything and
just stay and can I tell you something?

He says that now he says that he
wouldn't even dream that hmm.

I wear the trousers, okay?

Everything changed that if she thought she'd experienced mega fame as a Spice Girl.

I don't think she had any clue

What was around the corner?

Just as Spice Mania was all
embracing in 97 by sort of

99

Onwards it's posh and Becks

Posh and Becks become a tabloid obsession.

Victoria decides to make a documentary

and she challenges the
editor of the Daily Mirror.

It used to be, when in doubt,
lead on the royals.

Now, when in doubt, Posh.

Are you taking a piss?

No, you're the new queen of newspapers.

I've been telling them this for weeks.

So, Queen Posh and King Dave.

Why can't you write a
column for the Mirror?

I can't write a column.

Make a column.

Why not?

Do you pay well?

You are as tired as they said, aren't you?

Yeah, I am.

Well, don't be the last 20 million now.

Yeah. Don't believe what you read.

It was during the American tour that
Victoria and Mel B got pregnant.

I'd have to keep visiting pharmacies and
buying pregnancy tests always.

So that was becoming a bit of a
full -time occupation at that point.

And that was quite funny.

I'd be like, not another one, come on.

You know, so I knew things were changing.

I was there at the moment when
Victoria found out she was pregnant.

I do remember her telling me.

And at the time, what you
have to remember as well is that

at that moment, nobody got pregnant
when they were in a girl band.

Nobody.

Going through their pregnancies while
they're doing concerts was pretty tough.

There was a lot of sickness.

It was tough on their bodies.

In terms of a showbiz exclusive,

it's about as big a story as it was
possible to have at the time.

The biggest female star in Britain,

pregnant by the biggest
footballer we've ever produced.

In the 90s, people being
pregnant on page one would have been

Geri Hall getting pregnant
because she was 40 and posh spice.

Touring with the girls, I remember receiving the, you know, the day's newspapers.

Obviously, America,
you have your time delay,

so there's enough time for them
all to be facts to you in those days.

Standing by a machine watching them
come out, you know, here's this, oh man,

and here's, oh man, here's another
one, oh here's another one.

That was very difficult and
obviously not a

pleasant thing to have to
discuss and go through.

Showbiz Exclusive, are the
spices in crisis?

Emergency meter to discuss
meeting even, to discuss future.

We've also got, which is
from the star mum -to -be, Mel B.

So these are all the newspaper
reports coming in of,

first of all, Victoria being
pregnant and now Mel B being pregnant.

I do remember when Victoria's
pregnancy had been leaked.

To have that blasted around,
you know, publicly around the world

is pretty traumatic, I'd have thought.

All of the girls' parents were
incredibly supportive

but also a bit protective, too.

Of course, it's their kid.

Plastered on the front of
every newspaper and magazine

you walk past in a newsstand.

It would have been nice for Victoria to be
able to tell her friends herself.

And my family.

And

if

you

actually look at the whole invention of,
quote, girl power, the Spice Girls, after

all that tough, ballsy talking on television, what do they want at a young age?

The UK has more teenage mothers
than anywhere else in Europe.

Experts say peer pressure is a key
reason teenagers start to have sex.

The reason that it's growing is because we
have media attention on very famous young

mums, Spice Girls.

Twelve year old girls look up to these.

The criticism the two Spice Girls face when pregnant forces Mel B to defend herself.

They really milked it on
teenage pregnancies.

Let's kind of make Spice Girls responsible

for teenage pregnancies.

Even though they're not teenagers
themselves, let's make out they

are and blame them for that.

Yeah, there is a problem with
teenage pregnancies.

Yeah,

there is.

It's not our fault.

Why not tell everyone to go
out and get laid without using

a condom?

Is it right to like expose your
stomach in that sort of sense?

Is it right from what point of view?

Who's it going to harm?

I mean the general public.

The minute you become a mother,

your value decreases because
you're no longer a sex symbol

and that is the female currency.

In 1999, Geri performs at
Party in the Park,

and the long -awaited
first solo single goes

down well.

I think the song was very different
from what people were expecting.

I think Geri wanted a new start and to
reinvent herself, and I think she did.

Big make -up, little break -up

Geri was really good at publicity.

I mean, she was very savvy.

She was clued up to what media
interest was at that moment in time.

Special expectations, look at me

It's very interesting that she chose
all the different roles that women had.

You could be a sex object.

You could be a tough businesswoman.

You could be devotional,

but the pinnacle of achievement for
women is to be the bride.

I think

that's genius.

She's holding a funeral for the persona
that she became and lost herself in.

Because I think that's what happens.

I remember seeing Geri at a

party and something had
changed and it was like she wasn't quite

there.

That snog was definitely the
moment the bubble completely burst.

When she stepped out on her own she became
a target for what we all faced as women.

Is that you're there for the
gratification of men?

When the world tour ends the
Spice Girls stay together,

but the remaining members
begin to pursue solo careers

When the girls were going as solo artists

on their own and
Melanie and nabbed me first

And she told the other girls as well.

I'm taking Jenny and we were very
tight because we were protecting her

I'm very lucky girl
actually because the people

who travel with me as well as
being my PA and hairdresser

They're my very good friends.

So we're just a girly gang on tour

I remember we did a video in the Mojave
Desert and she wanted to get away from

the sporty spiced black hair and she
just said, Jo, I want it to look really

punky, I'm gonna wear it kill.

I said okay, chop your hair off then.

So we actually

did it in the truck and a
lot of us made that short haircut.

I was at a

wedding in the Lake District and we
were at the table in the morning having

breakfast and it's in the News of the
World on the Sunday saying Melanie Cia's

found new love.

I found love with this new woman.

And it was me and her walking through

Soho.

Jenny and Mel enjoy the sun together.

Oh my God.

Mel C gets all touchy feely with

girl pal.

She's just a non -story isn't it?

It's just three girls
going out to have coffee.

You know if she'd been a lesbian she'd
have come out and gone, I'm totally gay,

I'm fine

with it.

But just to have this thing thrown at her
all the time and having to keep defending

herself it was just
yeah it was it was hard for her.

I mean everyone's been

asking this question for the last six
months or so, particularly since the new

image about your sexuality right.

If I were to say to you then are you gay?

Seriously and you know me,
you know where I'm coming from,

if I say are you gay would you

give me a straight answer or
would you just play the game?

I give you a straight answer, I'm very

honest.

You know I might slip in the ad joke.

Alright are you gay?

I think so, will I?

No I'm not gay.

I think she's pulled apart because she
didn't conform you know she didn't have

Oh the long hair and the soft look,
she's just being herself.

For her first performance we
did the V Festivals which was,

I mean that's properly brave.

So outrageously not anything the
Spice Girls would have done.

I think she just wanted to experiment

musically that she hadn't
really been able to do before.

It started off a little
bit, you know, hostile.

She definitely got a lot of scrutiny.

It was very directed at, you know,

a woman should be like this, a
young girl should be like this,

you shouldn't do this,
you shouldn't act like that.

But then they'd go and see her
perform and they were like,

oh, actually, that's really good.

That first album was a giant success.

I mean, multi, multi
-million selling album.

All of the remaining Spice Girls released
their first single, With Someone Else.

And when it was Emma's turn,

it was Emma and Tintin Out who
released a cover of What I Am.

The same week as Geri's Lift Me Up,

it was in a real era where
everyone loved for there

to be a manufactured chart battle,

in which Geri went to the
extreme lengths of dating

Chris Evans.

In the run -up to the chart battle, the
girls are questioned about the rivalry.

Who do you think is
going to be number one?

Who would you put money on, you or her?

If you had to bet?

I'd like to think, you know,

I wrote my own song and I'm really
proud of it and I think it's a great...

Although the song that she's covered is
really fantastic, she's done a great job.

You have pointed out
that it's a cover though.

Naturally it created a huge story.

Was that planned?

I don't think it was planned.

We did win though.

Now you might have heard a little
bit about this brand new number one.

It's our second time at number one.

The ginger one herself,
Miss Geri Halliwell.

See ya.

What's the first line?

Whilst filming her documentary,

Victoria is caught off guard by
one of her interviewees,

who brings up the growing
friction between the girls.

What do you think of Geri's album?

Geri Halliwell?

Um...

I'll put you on the spot there.

Um...

Um...

Have you spoken to her since...?

No.

Don't you think that's a shame,
after spending all that time together?

It is a shame, but I think that she kind of has turned into a war in a way, you know

I mean when they had
their singles out together

her and Emma she did as much as
she could didn't oh, I know

It was all a big publicity exercise, but
isn't that what singles are about?

Yeah, but I wouldn't go to the Sun and
dressed as a schoolgirl with my unlike me

There came a real era where the other
girls were quite disparaging about Jerry

I don't really like her voice.

I'm not saying she's rubbish.

I'm saying I don't like her voice.

Shot and taken.

It's a personal opinion.

Some people don't like
that and that's good.

You know, you're allowed to
have your opinion.

It was a difficult
time to be a Spice Girls fan.

I felt like that's not what the
Spice Girls were about.

The birth of a new century.

The river of fire on the Thames.

Fireworks all over the country.

A happy new year.

At the dawn of the new millennium, the
Spice Girls are still together.

The band release their third
album and reveal a new sound and look.

But it's met with skepticism.

I would like to know if you think
it's the best album of the Spice Girls.

Our first album is a four piece and
we're just really excited about it.

We're really proud of what we've made and

we hope it goes on to
bigger and better things.

It's a pretty tough competition, right?

I mean, there's the other band,
Westlife, with a new album.

We've never ever been in
competition with anybody.

The mid to late 90s did feel progressive,

but in the noughties,
there was a massive backlash.

It's like one step forward,
two steps back.

Something had shifted.

The tabloids had been quite male,

but this was women beating up on women

and shaming each other.

It was incredibly toxic.

If we chopped your head off...

Yes, please.

..your sexuality would be in question.

You're a single girl,
you're a good -looking girl,

You have big boobs, pretty hair,

you go out there and you
have oral sex with rich men.

That is what it is.

That's what it is.

Yes!

Get a f***ing life.

You know, really it is.

Wake up.

Remember, you're a young woman.

You should be sexy, trendy, and fun.

This is the worst crime
that any young girl can do,

is to have a little bit of a belly

and to show it all off.

Such a bad look and it's started
out by those bloody Spice Girls.

Victoria Beckham.

Victoria!

Does the tampon make me look fat?

I hate her!

After Victoria becomes a mum, the
media continue to comment on her body.

Just 12 weeks after giving birth to
Brooklyn, she appeared on TFI Friday.

It's been a cracking year for you and your
husband to be, and you've had your baby.

Yeah.

Is your weight back to normal?

Yeah, it is.

Can I check?

Do you mind?

Oh no, you did this to Gerry, didn't you?

No, but Jerry was, like, really small.

Yeah, but it's alright.

She's horrible.

She's horrible.

Hey, it starts like that at all, does it?

I know.

I remember a lot of
scrutiny around Victoria,

and it was, like, seen as,

well, that's the price of fame.

Are you anorexic?

No, I'm not.

How do you know that?

I know that because I eat.

You eat regularly?

Yeah, no, I mean, I have a
perfectly healthy diet.

Sporty Mel C has revealed she's
suffering from depression,

following tabloid taunts over
her weight and sexuality.

You can never win.

If you put a few pounds on, you're
obese and fat and they shame you.

And if you lose weight,
you're a bad role model.

From well -rounded redhead,
where it's like anything,

you like strawberry ice cream, you eat
loads of it, to desperately thin blonde.

The new Six Stone Jerry is
high -maintenance.

A regime which involves more than
three hours of exercise a day

and a high -protein, no -carb diet.

Even in everything she'd achieved,

it was her body everybody was focusing on.

It becomes about her being a
perfect specimen of womanhood,

which is to be the smallest you can be.

The battleground is
always the female body.

They're scrutinised on a daily level.

they're scrutinized by ourselves more than

anybody else because that's
what we've been taught to do.

So young girls are being fed this and

then they carry this and
then it's passed on to

the new generation because they look at

their bodies and they go
there's something wrong with me.

Now the news of the world claims after

building a career as the
fittest woman in show business

bulimia, the slimmest disease she
told the world she'd beaten, is back.

But her publicist

maintains the story is pure fabrication.

is she's experiencing what most people
experience listening to her records.

So what advice would you
have for Geri now then?

She'll write another book, won't it?

It'll be my celebrity
eating disorder book.

Those are very popular, those troubled...

Yeah, and then you'll review it.

Then I'll review it.

And you'll slag it off.

And then she'll have a
nervous breakdown, and then...

And will you feel any guilt at
all, any responsibility?

Does she feel any guilt for
making those records?

With Geri, she's a woman
who has explicitly said,

I've suffered from a variety of eating

disorders and that wasn't enough to stop

her body being scrutinised in an
incredibly invasive way.

I think when you become more known for

what size you are than what you're
producing, kind of creatively,

that's probably quite an
unhappy place to be.

Geri was set to perform at the Brits in 2000 and she was going to perform Bag It Up.

I think she wanted to stamp her mark that
she was very much here as a solo artist.

Our next performer needs very
little introduction really.

Suffice to say,
she likes to make surprise exits.

But she's even better at grand
entrances and openings, as you'll see.

In a moment's time, ladies and gentlemen,
a big round of applause for Geri Alliwell!

It was bells and whistles.

It was the whole shebang.

I mean, there were two huge
legs in heels, like that.

And Geri appeared between the legs.

She knew it would raise some eyebrows.

The Spice Girls were doing a
medley at the end of the show.

Naturally, as with all
things Spice Girls and Geri,

the papers were getting very excited

about it.

There were all sorts of increasingly
crazy storylines put to us.

Caroline McAteer was the Spice Girls'
publicist when I was Geri's publicist.

We just kept in touch whenever there were
big media stories trying to be played out

between the Spice Girls and Gerry,

so that we had a bit of an idea of
what was going on behind the scenes,

as it were, before the papers
started running stories.

What should have been a really enjoyable

evening for them and a really celebratory
evening felt very, very tense.

The media presumed it was all to do with
Gerry, but none of it was.

On that day, Victoria had
received a death threat.

And they'd received
threats towards Brooklyn,

and they'd received bullets in the post.

That was our biggest concern,

was about the security and just
what was going to happen on the night.

So I'm at the Brits and the
Spice Girls have come on stage.

And Victoria looks great, you know,
she's got this space age suit on,

so I'm thinking, you know,
that's a good page one picture.

But a big bang had gone off.

Then suddenly I noticed that
Victoria's, you know, crying.

Obviously they set off the
confetti and the balloons

and Victoria thought that she'd been shot

and broke down in tears.

So that's what was going on.

But they just carried on
like complete professionals.

And then at the end of their performance

the girls were getting the
outstanding contribution.

I think we knew it goodbye was the end.

We all knew it was a pivotal moment.

We'd all

sort of discussed it, but
there was no official announcement.

It was a goodbye to Jerry, and

And it was goodbye to what was
really, but the message was there.

I love this, this is really
making me very emotional.

I love this bit when Melanie sang,
that was like my favourite bit.

They've been through a lot, you know,

they've been through a
lot and they were grown women

dealing with the reality of
what it means to be famous.

Even women of my age now probably don't go
through what those girls went through.

The girl gang gave them
protection, you know.

They shielded each other.

Made them less vulnerable, I suppose.

But as individuals they were much
easier targets, weren't they?

It's a timeless double standard.

Men's personal lives
don't affect their careers

in the same way that
women's affect theirs.

I call on those fathers to ignore the
poor role model that Eddie has been.

They weren't stronger as a unit
than they were individually.

She just appreciates the fact
that we've let her back in.