The Spice Girls celebrated a hitherto unknown milestone on Tuesday after acknowledging the 30th anniversary of their first audition – as Geri Horner attempts to deflect attention from her husband’s sexting scandal.
The singer, 51, was hand-in-hand with beleaguered Red Bull boss Christian Horner during the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, shortly after suggestive texts purportedly from her husband to a female employee were leaked online.
And with the spotlight still trained on the couple, a behind-the-scenes video documenting Geri’s first audition with The Spice Girls might go some way towards diverting attention from her marriage, with sources close to the band suggesting the incident was a mitigating factor in deciding to post the video.
One said: ‘It will certainly give her a distraction. She is desperate for people to start talking about something else now other than her issues with Christian.
‘She loves the Spice Girls and looks back at it all so fondly, they were happy times for her so it’s fortuitous that the anniversary of their first audition fell now.
The Spice Girls celebrated a hitherto unknown milestone on Tuesday after acknowledging the 30th anniversary of their first audition
More than 400 applicants, among then Melanie Chisholm (left) and Melanie Brown (right) turned up for an initial audition in London on March 4
It comes after Geri Horner attended the Bahrain Grand Prix with husband Christian, shortly after suggestive texts purportedly sent by him to a female employee were leaked online
‘Geri is sick and tired of her marriage being a the centre of everything, she’s a Spice Girl and that’s what she loves to be remembered as. It’s hoped that it will change the narrative.’
Geri is also said to be looking forward to the forthcoming celebrations to mark three decades of the band though discussions have come to a halt as she sorts out her marriage woes with Christian.
The legendary girl-group were formed in 1994 after Heart Management founders Bob and Chris Herbert placed an ad for aspiring female singers in national trade magazine The Stage.
More than 400 applicants turned up for an initial audition in London on March 4, with the father-son duo – keen to create a female alternative to Take That – eventually whittling the group down to 12, from which Geri, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham (née Adams) were selected.
Captioning a short, previously unseen video on Tuesday, they wrote: ‘Today marks the 30th anniversary of the very first Spice Girls auditions!
‘What started back in 1994 has turned into an amazing journey, way beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Thank you to our fans for your support from day one.’
Geri and Christian put on a very public show of unity over the weekend as they made their way to Red Bull´s hospitality area in Bahrain, where they mingled with VIP guests in full view of photographers and television cameras.
Red Bull F1 chief Christian has faced allegations relating to hundreds of WhatsApp messages that appeared to be written by him to a female colleague.
Mel C and Geri are seen dancing with other hopefuls during that initial audition in 1994
Mel B, AKA Scary Spice, wears a cropped Adidas T-shirt as she performs alongside future bandmate Victoria Adams
He was cleared to continue as Red Bull head following an internal probe into ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by the F1 team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH. The 50-year-old has always denied the claims.
Their appearance together at the season-opening race came after F1 media and key paddock figures received an anonymous email containing a Google drive link to purported evidence submitted to an investigation into the Red Bull owner’s alleged conduct.
Recipients included the president of the sport´s governing body Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali as well as rival team bosses.
Speaking on Thursday, after Christian was cleared but before the email was sent out, Mercedes and McLaren team bosses Toto Wolff and Zak Brown had called on Formula One´s governing body to push Red Bull for greater transparency about the investigation.
Christian Horner placed a kiss on his wife’s lips on Saturday as the former Spice Girl comes to terms with the controversy around a set of leaked texts
Christian stood over his wife and former Spice Girl as the couple embraced in front of the cameras
Christian seemed to lean in to peck his wife on the lips as they put on a show of unity
After they kissed, Geri appeared to look directly at photographers during her appearance in Bahrain on Friday
The couple had breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday when Red Bull cleared Christian of inappropriate behaviour allegations which were made by a female employee.
But 24 hours later, flirtatious WhatsApp messages apparently exchanged between Horner and the female complainant were leaked to 149 F1 figures while Geri was on a flight to see her husband ahead of this weekend’s season opener in Bahrain.
An insider previously told the Mail it would be ‘mayhem’ if Geri showed her face at Saturday’s Grand Prix.
However, Red Bull confirmed to Mail Sport on Saturday that the former Spice Girl will be on the grid and she was seen at around 1.20pm with her F1 boss husband.
Christian grasped his wife Geri’s hand in a tight grip as they ambled together in Bahrain
As they walked up the stairs of Red Bull’s rooms, Horner put his hand on his wife’s back
Friends of the star told Mail+ they are ‘deeply concerned’ about her and said the singer appeared ‘fragile’ when they saw her some weeks ago