CULTURE

The Spice Girls Reunion Is Finally, Officially, Really Happening Next Summer

It’s been a decade since their last reunion.

November 5, 2018

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Once in a while (probably more than once in a while), the British tabloids really get it right. This was certainly the case on Friday, when The Sun revealed that, come Monday, Guy Fawkes Day, the Spice Girls would announce they’re reuniting for a stadium tour. That report turned out to be totally accurate: Today, four of the original lineup—Ginger, Sporty, Baby, and Scary Spices—released a faux-news-report-style video to announce a short series of dates they will play next June in venues across the United Kingdom, with support from British singer Jess Glynne.

In the minute-long clip, the foursome who will go on tour next year (Geri Halliwell, who departed the group two years before they disbanded; Melanie Chisholm; Melanie Brown, usually known as Mel B; and Emma Bunton—no Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh Spice) appear in four different venues—London, Los Angeles, Liverpool, and Spice World. Three of them wear black looks (albeit ones that coordinate with their spicy alter-egos), while Halliwell ignores the agreed-upon dress code and instead opts for a sparkly blue look. “We’re going on tour. People need to see it to believe it,” Halliwell, alias Ginger Spice, says in the video. They start bickering, talking over one another—and then, Bunton, alias Baby Spice, starts singing. And they all harmonize. And all is forgiven. That’s how a reunion works.

It’s their first time touring together in a decade, since their original reunion tour, The Return of the Spice Girls, from 2007 to 2008. (That tour, however, featured the original five members.) The band split up in 2000—they last toured as an official ensemble during the short “Christmas in Spiceworld” tour in 1999.

One might be forgiven for approaching the rumors with eyebrows raised before the girls themselves confirmed the announcement. The Sun first broke the news of an impending reunion a whole year ago, adding that it had been delayed by Victoria Beckham’s reported reluctance. They were rumored to be, and then not to be, performing at the royal wedding. (They didn’t.)

Though Beckham is not actually participating in this tour, she has, from time to time, hinted that she’d be down to get back with the group: “You never know what might happen!” she said last October at the Vogue Forces of Fashion conference. (Mel B also shut down Hoda Kotb’s suggestion that Beckham was an obstacle in their reunion.) Earlier this year, she posted a photo—a real, contemporary photo, not a throwback—of the five women in Halliwell’s home, captioned “Love my girls!!! So many kisses!!! X Exciting x #friendshipneverends #girlpower.”

These, it’s worth noting, were the same hashtags the Spice Girls used in the caption for their tour announcement. So maybe there’s a chance of a Posh reconciliation yet.