David Beckham has denied speculation that the Spice Girls will take up performing as a group again, after the British stars reunited on-stage during a birthday bash.
Former England footballer Beckham sparked a social media frenzy when he posted a video of the girl band singing and dancing on stage to their 1998 hit Stop, during his wife Victoria’s 50th birthday party.
The Spice Girls reunited in 2012 for the closing ceremony of the London Summer Olympics and in 2019 for their Spice World tour – which did not feature Victoria.
“I know it’s what people want, but in all honesty, I think I was the most excited of anyone,” Beckham told Variety of the on-stage birthday reunion.
“The fact that, obviously, we had all of the girls in one room. All of the girls haven’t been on a stage together for over 15 years.
“So, to have them all there, to have them all up on stage, to have our youngest son playing guitar.
“The whole reason why the girls are actually up there was I didn’t want to do a traditional video of old clips and people saying, ‘Happy birthday, Victoria!’
“My idea was to recreate the Mama video, but I wanted it of just Victoria.”
Beckham said that while the recreation was being shown, the couple’s youngest son Cruz was playing Mama on the guitar and all five women – Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown and Victoria – got up on the stage.
“It was an amazing moment,” Beckham said, before shutting down any speculation of a Spice Girls tour reunion.
He continued: “Unfortunately, that’s not happening.
“Victoria was so pleased to see the girls, and it was a massive part of her life, the girls, but obviously, all the girls have got their own things going on. They will do certain things together at certain times.
“But Victoria’s full on with her beauty and fashion businesses. If anyone’s busier than me, it’s her.”
Beckham added that “there’s nothing more that I’d like to see than the girls on stage again”.
“I’ll still work at it, don’t worry,” the 49-year-old said.
The girl group’s debut single Wannabe was released in 1996 and after two years at the top of the charts, Halliwell, nicknamed Ginger Spice, shocked the world when she left in 1998, citing “differences between us”.
In December 2000, the rest of the group went their separate ways, announcing an indefinite hiatus.
Last year, Victoria and David appeared in a four-part Netflix documentary titled Beckham.
The series provided one of the viral TV moments of the year when David interrupted his wife talking about her childhood to instruct her to “be honest” and admit that her father drove a Rolls-Royce – after she said they were “very working-class”.
The couple later recreated the scene for an Uber Eats advert which aired during the US Super Bowl, in which Victoria wore a T-shirt that read: “My dad had a Rolls-Royce.”
Beckham told Variety: “I think Victoria came out with this documentary and everyone was like, ‘Oh, my God, that person that David’s been saying about for the last 27 years, that is her’.
“It’s not just about the non-smile and the pout. That’s what I see every single day.”