You've written to us,
you've phoned us, you've made sure we know how much you love
this girl. So here she is, in all her glory: Geri Halliwell
...
She won't want you to know
this, but Geri Halliwell is late. Really late. A group of
people gathered in her name are waiting at a studio in a swish
part of west London for a photo shoot and interview. Everyone
is present - except the girl we desperately want to see. After
an hour of chit-chat and clock-watching, there's a definite
tetchiness in the room. And then suddenly... "I AM SOOO
SORRY!" A deep, rich voice booms behind us. We all turn
round and a small princess with long, blonde hair and a
floor-sweeping magenta skirt rushes over in tiny steps.
Shaking her head at the shame of her lateness she dashes
around planting kisses on everyone's cheeks. 'I've got to go
to the loo," she says breathlessly, before disappearing
out of the door she just came in. She's gone again! But it'
OK, we'[[ forgive Geri Halliwell anything. This fortnight is a
big one for Geri. Her third solo track Lift Me Up has hit the
charts and she's been nominated for an MTV Award alongside
Britney, Whitney and Madonna (her all-time hero) for Best
International Female. It's yet another chapter in the
astonishing transformation of Geri Halliwell. Hard to believe
that only 18 months ago, just when some people were thinking
that maybe - for her Ginger Spice should shut up, pull her
skirt down and put her boobs away, she surprised the world by
doing just that! She resigned from being the biggest mouth in
the biggest band in the world to become a United Nations'
representative And then - showing all those people who thought
she'd only make it in telly - a number one charting solo
singer. But she didn't do it alone. To even Geri's surprise,
she found a whole nation of girls rooting for her.
Because there's something
about Geri. She's up t with Kate Winslet as the celebrity girl
would most like our next sleepover - making you laugh by
taking off mum's Spanish accent, egging you on to a singalong
& plans, spilling secrets. Geri's a girl's girl. We love
her independence, think her new look deserves a round
applause, and worry (a lot) about her loneliness. BEST FRIENDS
When she comes back from the too and she's settling down to
get her make-up done, I tell her that thousands of girls would
give anything to be her best friend. 'Would the)R' she asks,
smiling shyly. "Well, they can be! When I was young,
people in music were my best friends. When things aren't going
right, what do you do? You turn the radio on and throw
yourself into a song. Even now, when I'm searching for
something, I listen intently to the next song on the radio,
convinced it's going to tell me something. You know, I love
the company of teenagers - sometimes I think I get on better
with them than adults'' Maybe that's because Geri doesn't
think she's changed since she was a teen. Earlier this month
her autobiography if Only came out - ifs a great read which
opens during her teen years. "I think that's the best bit
of the book, the funniest," she says. "George
[Michael, obviously!] has read it and says ifs funny - but I
don't know if that's just because he knows me.' Re-reading all
her teenage diary entries, some of which went straight in the
book, cracked her up. 'It was funny how I referred to boys,'
she laughs. 'Ws like, 'I fancy John, but I don't think he
likes me' Then the next week it says 'I'm going out with
John', and two days later it says 'I've dumped him'. It was
good for me to see what I've learnt. I don't think I've
changed.' So she's still I going off people after two days?
'NO! No, oh I don't know,' she says, going all dreamy. 'You
know how we all get infatuated with someone and then they
become the love of your life at that moment? I still do that.'
WHAT I REALLY WANT These days boys all over the world are
infatuated with Geri, but back in Watford, when she was a
teen, they weren't so interested. 'I'd dyed my hair black,
dressed like Madonna and had no breasts!' she giggles. 'While
everyone else was upstairs snogging, I was downstairs dancing
to pop music' Because, as we all know, what Geri wanted - what
she really, really wanted - was to be famous. 'I didn't know
how to go about it though,' she says shrugging. 'My parents
couldn't afford to send me to stage school' But, by hook or by
crook she was determined to make it big. So, like someone once
said about her idol Madonna, 'She hauled hersdf up by her bra
straps!'
She's glad now
that the hauling didn't happen when she was still a
teenybopper. 'You need a perspective on it or it can all go to
your head,' she explains. 'The sad thing about young people
trying to be famous is that one minute people love you and the
next they hate you. My relationship with the public has been
very turbulent.. first they like me, then I'm being called
fat, then I've been written off and the next minute, people
like me again. 'I've come to realise that you've got to be
confi- dent and know why you're doing this. I make music for
people and I want them to be inspired and laugh. But I've also
had to realise that you can't please everybody and you can't
make everybody like you' EATING DISORDERS Geri's learnt these
lessons the hard way. If Only also touches on her bulimia - an
illness that girls in the 90s can't seem to get away from.
'Eating disorders are just symptoms of what you feel inside,'
she explains. 'It's not about weight, its about escapism. You
put all your energy into controlling your weight and trying to
forget everything else, instead of dealing with other
problems. Like when my father died I was absolutely grief
stricken, and felt lonely and isolated, and the bulimia gave
me something to focus on. But the pressure about weight is
very strong. I hear girls saying 'Boys only like girls who are
a size eight!'And that's absolute rubbish!' SUGAR'N'SPICE
While Geri will be open, frank and even blunt at times, she
still resists the temptation to be negative about her ex-band
mates. Which must make it all the more hurtful when it seems
the other Spices aren't play- ing ball. So I ask how she felt
about Mel Cs recent comments about Geri's music being nothing
but 'cotton wool"First, if anyone you know says something
negative about you, of course it hurts because you want
everyone to like you - especially as my music's so personal
and from the heart. But then I have to put things in per-
spective and think. 'That's not the Melanie I know speaking. I
don't expect that from her.- Still, she can't resist
shrieking, 'What was that all about?'to Kenny Ho, the stylist
she still shares with the Spice Girls, when she recalls some
less than flat- tering pictures of Mel C in a Sunday
newspaper. But when I ask her outright what she thinks of
Mel's new rock chick thang, she diplomatic: 'I think Met is
doing what she wants to do, she's really finding out who she
is. And that's great'
And the diplomacy doesn't
stop when I mention the Big Showdown - Geri and Ernma both
releasing a single in the same week. At the time neither song
has been released, but it's clear that Geri is slightly
embarrassed about the up-coming battle. 'Of course, everyone
going to say, 'Oooh!'but what can I say?' She pauses. 'I just
think, 'I'm doing a solo track, Emma's doing something with
another band.' It's a good track - that she's covered,' she
widens her eyes and looks at me meaningfully. 'Ifs a cover
which we know already, so it's a good choice.' She squeezes my
knee and skips off to strut her stuff in front of the camera.
No-one told I4-year-old, Geraldine Halliwell from Watford the
truth about being a pop star. No-one told her about the early
mornings or the jet bag or the pressure. But there were some
things nobody could have put into words. A few weeks ago Geri
did a show in Spain. She'd had one hour to get ready and was
still feeling sleepy when she walked through the tunnel to the
auditorium. 'Suddenly there was this bright orange light,' she
says smiling. 'I walked towards the light and there were
25,000 people chanting Geri, Geri' And I just thought'Wow! The
good bits are exactly how I imagined they'd be.'
