Former Spice Girls Manager Reveals Who Had to Work Harder Than the Other Ladies Because She Couldn’t Sing and Dance as Well
It’s been three decades since the Spice Girls took the music world by storm.
Since they split in 2001, Melanie “Mel C” Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Melanie “Mel B” Brown (Scary Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), Geri Halliwell-Horner (Ginger Spice), and Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) have all gone on to have separate careers. But fans are still hoping for another reunion tour one day. And 30 years after the release of their hit “Wannabe,” the Spice Girls remain one of the most-talked-about groups of all time. So what were they like behind the scenes?
The band’s former manager, Chris Herbert, spoke to Betway about working with the ladies, including who stood out above the rest during auditions and which of the women had to work harder than the others because she didn’t possess the same singing and dancing abilities.
Herbert said that it was Mel B who really “stood out” compared to others who auditioned to be in the group.
“Initially, it was her look,” he recalled. “She stood out in the crowd. She dressed the part, looked cool, looked confident and carried herself brilliantly. Then I started talking to her. The remarkable thing is that Mel B hasn’t really changed since the day I met her. Over the years, they’ve all naturally grown into their public personas, but Mel B has always been exactly who she is. She’s incredibly down-to-earth, says exactly what she thinks and never pulls any punches. People find that really appealing. She always knew who she was as a person and, later, as an artist. She was completely comfortable with herself and very confident.
Herbert also remembered that there was something different about Victoria Beckham than the other people auditioning as well, explaining that she “carried herself differently. There was a grace and maturity about her that stood out immediately. She sang Mein Herr from Cabaret, which was a really unusual choice because everyone else was performing current pop songs. She felt comfortable singing something completely different. She was lovely, really charming, and I was very impressed.”
And which of the women had to work harder to get their singing and dancing abilities up to par with the other women in the group?
“Geri probably had to work the hardest because she didn’t have the same natural singing and dancing ability as some of the others,” Herbert shared, before adding, “But she embraced that challenge. She doubled down on everything and put the work in. Each of them had moments where they wobbled. They were young girls doing the same routines over and over again, day after day, in what was a very disciplined environment. But the important thing was that they pulled each other through. That was one of the greatest strengths of the Spice Girls.
“Over the years, I’ve put together other bands, and sometimes we’ve tried to speed up that development process. Looking back, I don’t think you can fast-track it. Whenever we’ve skipped that groundwork, it’s caused problems further down the line because the group hasn’t had the time to become a proper unit. Eventually, cracks started to appear because the foundations were never properly built. With the Spice Girls, that year of development was absolutely fundamental to the success they went on to achieve.”
