Mel B has said the Spice Girls are ‘rallying behind’ their bandmate Geri Horner-Halliwell amid her husband Christian Horner‘s ‘sex texts’ scandal.
F1 Red Bull team principal, Christian, 50, has been the subject of intense speculation after he was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee before the start of the 2024 season.
He had been cleared of allegations of ‘coercive behaviour’, but has been fighting for his future after flirtatious text messages apparently exchanged between him and the female complainant were divulged to 149 F1 figures.
Speaking on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain Mel B, 48, addressed the controversy and explained how the girl band are supporting Geri.
She said: ‘When you are going through something like that you do need your friends and family and we are all supporting her. I feel really sad for Geri.’
Mel B, 48, has said the Spice Girls are ‘rallying behind’ their bandmate Geri Horner-Halliwell amid her husband Christian Horner’s ‘sex texts’ scandal
Geri’s husband has been the subject of intense speculation after he was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee (Geri pictured on Monday)
Adding of the Spice Girls, Mel joked: ‘I’m always the one saying we are getting together and always getting told off for it.
‘We are doing something I just can’t say it.’
Geri was spotted attending the Commonwealth Day Service in London on Monday after supporting her husband at both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prixs.
Christian, who has won 13 world championships since heading the team as a 31-year-old in 2005, had previously thanked his ‘very supportive wife’ for her backing during the accusations.
The couple mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009.
‘[Geri] was a guest of [former CEO of the Formula One Group] Bernie Ecclestone’s in Monaco one year and came down the pit lane,’ Horner previously told The Telegraph. ‘I remember [McLaren boss] Ron Dennis was standing next to me and Eddie Jordan was there as well.
‘She gave Ron a kiss on the cheek, and she gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m on for a kiss on the cheek here!’ And I went to give her one and she shoved her hand out at me.’
Their relationship, however, got off to a rocky start, coming under fire after the Red Bull chief left his long-term partner Beverley Allen six months after she gave birth to their daughter Olivia.
He had been cleared of allegations but flirtatious text messages apparently exchanged between him and the female complainant were divulged to 149 F1 figures (Christian and Geri pictured last week)
Speaking on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain Mel B addressed the controversy and explained how the girl band are supporting Geri
She said: ‘When you are going through something like that you do need your friends and family and we are all supporting her. I feel really sad for Geri’
Adding of the Spice Girls, Mel joked: ‘I’m always the one saying we are getting together and always getting told off for it’
While the couple took a short break to see if Christian could rescue his relationship with the mother of his child, just nine months later he announced his engagement to Ginger Spice in an advertisement in the The Times in 2014.
It said: ‘The engagement is announced between Christian, son of Mr and Mrs G.M. Horner and Geraldine, daughter of the late Mr L.F. Halliwell and Mrs A Parkinson.’
The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015.
The singer, shares Bluebell 17, with her screenwriter ex Sacha Gervasi. They split prior to her birth.
Geri staged another public show of unity with Christian as she watched his team charge to victory with another one-two finish in Jeddah earlier this week.
The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015
The singer, shares Bluebell 17, (pictured) with her screenwriter ex Sacha Gervasi. They split prior to her birth (pictured)
Geri and Christian in a holiday photograph taken on an unidentified beach over Christmas
Although the pair were seen cosying up again in front of the cameras, insiders claim that the leaked texts scandal ‘has been tough on her’.
Earlier this week, Christian’s accuser was suspended on full pay as a direct result of Red Bull’s inquiry because she was reportedly ‘dishonest’ when giving evidence.
As the spotlight continues to glare on the couple, a source close to the couple told The Sun: ‘It’s been tough but Geri has been a rock for Christian through all this and he has spoken out about how much that means to him.
‘There was no question of her staying away from Saudi – that would have sent entirely the wrong message.’
Christian also faced reporters in a press conference on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s race and admitted that the scandal had taken its toll on his family, while fending off questions on the woman at the centre of it.
He also said his wife had been ‘hugely supportive’ but admitted the scandal had been ‘very trying’ on his family.
‘It’s obviously been a very trying period,’ he said. ‘I’m married and have three children. And when that intrusion includes your children and the scrutiny that is placed upon your marriage.
‘I’m very fortunate that I have a beautiful family and very supportive wife. Of course, It’s very trying, it’s very challenging. When there’s children involved, parents, families, it’s not pretty.’
Geri pictured arriving at the Saudi Grand Prix to show support for her husband Christian over the ‘sex texts’ scandal
The couple appeared to be in good spirits and comfortable around each other
Geri also accompanied Christian on race day last week in a defiant show of support for her embattled husband
He added that the grievance had been ‘dealt with in the most professional manner’ by Red Bull’s parent company GmbH, which had appointed one of the top ‘KCs in the land’.
After fielding a barrage of questions of the topic, he called for the invasion into his private life to cease and attention turned towards racing.
‘The intrusion on my family is now enough,’ he said. ‘We need to move forward. It’s time now to focus on why we’re here, which is to go Formula One racing.’
Friends of the star claimed last week that it it would ‘break her heart’ to end her marriage to Christian — the man she sees as the ‘Prince Charming’ she has longed for since she was a little girl.
It’s believed that the scandal put the couple’s marriage ‘in question for the first time’.
Friends close to Geri, who stood by her husband of nine years resolutely throughout the internal probe, revealed she had ‘the meltdown to end all meltdowns over the leaks’.
The mother-of-two has been left ‘feeling humiliated’ after the messages were spread ‘so widely out there’, a friend added.
Hundreds of intimate WhatsApp exchanges purportedly between Horner and the colleague were released via an anonymous email account.
Geri had told friends that she was ‘relieved and elated’ that the claims against her partner ‘had finally been cleared’.
Friends of the Spice Girl told the Mail she thought the scandal had ‘finally gone away’ but have warned the appearance of the intimate messages – to which there are 79 screenshots – could ‘destroy’ her.
One said: ‘All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’
Another said he now fears for how the star, who has been left mortified at the embarrassing fall out, will be able to comprehend such a public humiliation.
He said: ‘Geri has been living in this happy, happy bubble for so many years now, she thought she had her prince and her knight in shining armour but now this.
Christian and Geri’s relationship came under fire after the Formula One boss left his long-term partner Beverley Allen (pictured) six months after the birth of their daughter, Olivia
Halliwell and Horner attend the Gala Dinner for the F1 Grand Prix Of Monaco on May 28, 2023
‘She thought that it had all gone away, she was delighted and over the moon when she learned Christian had been cleared.
‘Geri was pilloried when she got together with Christian because he had just had another baby with another woman but she has worked hard to rid that image of herself and Christian, and in particular that she is a homewrecker.
‘Now it has all come crashing down. The tears stopped when the judgment came in on Wednesday, now they absolutely will have started again.
‘This will destroy her. All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’
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