06-06-98: WHY DID GINGER SNAP?
Girl Power's red alert: Geri Halliwell bolts from the band, but will she become a spice wreck? In the world of sugar and spice and everything nice, this wend down like a jalape. On May 31, Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell, 25, quit the Spice Girls, the tart pop posse, with a vague statement blaming "differences between us" and concluding, "P.S., I'll be back." That declaration did nothing to end speculation on why Ginger was leaving and what she will do in her post-Spice era. "She is actually quite ill, in terms of mental and physical exhaustion," theorizes Britain's Sunday Mirror columnist Ian Hyland, who notes that Geri had skipped the group's two shows in Oslo last month complaining of stomach woes. Or maybe Geri lost the battle with Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown for the Spice presidency. "Geri's a leader," says Bob Herbert, who created the pre-fab five in 1994 when they answered an ad searching for female pop singers. "She's an organizer - very strong. You've got other strong characters in the band as well." Sean Hoare, show biz reporter for the British Tabloid The Sun, was more blunt: "Mel B. and Geri got on each other's nerves. Things have been simmering for about the last six months." Possibly Halliwell, who is said to be mulling a career as a TV personality, simply tired of the Spice capades; since dumping manager Simon Fuller last year, the girls have been running their own empire. Says Hyland: "Rumor is that Geri became so disinterested in the whole thing because it was just falling around her ears, and she decided she wants to move on." But as a potential solo act, the former topless model - who once hosted a game show in Turkey and was pictured nude in May's Playboy - isn't exactly Diana Ross; Halliwell's most-admired talents were probably her cheeky humor (she once pinched Prince Charles's behind) and her ability to squeeze into a Union Jack minidress. "Geri had admitted herself that she's not the best dancer and she's not got the best voice," says Hyland. Cynics might say that never stopped her before: Halliwell is reportedly worth $25 million as Girl Power has generated sales of 31 million albums, including last year's top seller, Spice; their film, Spice World , grossed about $80 million worldwide. The remaining Spices will soonbegin a 39-city North American tour, but as for whether they will hire a replacement (Spice-a-roni? Spice Cube?). Britain's Express reporter David Wigg believes "they don't really need one." Sporty, Baby, Posh and Scary are determined to power on, but one member predicted as recently as March, in the British magazine Q , that if anyone left, "I don't think we could carry on. It wouldn't be the same." That bittersweet Spice? Geri Halliwell.