Fans of the Spice Girls excited for their imminent reunion have been hit with disappointment.
The reunion is off.
Well, at least until after the new year.
The Wannabe hitmakers have been whipping up excitement for their reunion for most of the year – with Geri Halliwell, Mel B and Emma Bunton all raring to get back on stage and onto the charts.
Re-branding as GEM, the ladies had teased they wanted to mark the 20 year anniversary of the band’s debut by reforming and unleashing new music.
Last month a previously unheard track even leaked online revealing that the ladies had indeed recorded new material.
The reunion was already hit with controversy in the eyes of some fans as both Victoria Beckham and Mel C had refused to rejoin – but Geri, Mel B and Emma seemed determined to go ahead regardless.
It had been hoped that their return to the music scene would begin this weekend with a performance on The X Factor alongside current contestants 5 After Midnight – who wowed viewers (and the girls themselves) earlier in the competition with a stunning rendition of the 1996 classic track Say You’ll Be there.
But now it seems we’ll have to keep waiting for that big reunion.
"The girls were very keen to make it happen and negotiations went on throughout the week. But at the end of the day they couldn’t make the schedules work," a source told The Sun – dashing hopes of a 2016 return.
"Mel B was in town for the filming of Lip Sync Battle, but she has to get to New York to start rehearsals for Chicago on Broadway. They did everything they could to make the schedules work at the end of the day but it just couldn’t happen," the source continued.
However it seems next year will be the time we finally get to spice up our lives once more – with plans that are rumoured to include an epic Hyde Park performance.
"It won’t be long now though until the Spice Girls are back on stage again," the source continued.
Mel B has just wrapped filming the second series of the UK version of Lip Sync Battle which she hosts alongside Professor Green.
Craig Revel Horwood, Danny Dyer, and Katie Price are all expected to showcase their miming abilities on the Channel 5 show when it returns in January – although a Christmas special is expected later this month starring EastEnders favourites Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace.
Sounding sad to complete filming, Mel, 41, posted a photo of herself on Instagram of herself with blue lips, writing: "Feeling a little blue today, it’s my last day in the UK filming @lipsyncbattleuk."
Meanwhile Geri, 44, shared some slightly worrying news on her own social media feeds earlier this month as she introduced her 10-year-old daughter Bluebell to some classic music.
"Just played Wham to daughter Bluebell – ‘What’s a record?’ she asked…" Geri wrote on Twitter.
The mum-of-one will soon have another next generation child to introduce to the relics of the music industry in the new year when she gives birth to her first child with F1 husband Christopher Horner.
Meanwhile Emma, 40, recently recorded an episode of Celebrity Juice – with host Keith Lemon (aka Avid Merrion) sharing snaps of them bouncing on a bed together.
The Spice Girls last reunited in 2007 – ten years after the release of Wannabe – going on a world tour and eventually performing as part of the 2012 London Olympics.
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