By LIZ JONES
Last updated at 1:31 AM on 30th January 2011
After years struggling with the way she looks, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is at last happy in her own skin – flaunting her curves in her new high-street swimwear collection. Here she talks to Liz Jones about body image, mellow motherhood, the rich legacy (and A-list fans) of the Spice Girls – and finding love
'I met Henry on a beach. I was in a bikini. Swimwear! It does work,' says Geri
I've seen remarkably few celebrities naked. But I have seen Geri Halliwell in just her knickers. It was ten years ago, we were on a magazine cover shoot in Los Angeles, and Geri was trying to decide what to put on. I remember she was as small as a ten-year-old. This was during Geri’s super-aerobicised, super-Ashtanga-yogafied period. She had requested only vegetables and brown rice on the shoot. She seemed tense, lonely and, despite the nakedness, terribly unhappy in her own skin.
What a difference a decade makes. I meet Geri again in her lovely home in Highgate, North London. I’m not supposed to tell you about her house, but I can’t resist revealing that it’s all warm wood, huge sofas and perfect roses, everywhere. She is in a long sweater and over-the-knee socks, hair still wet from the shower. Not much make-up, apart from a slick of mascara. ‘I remember that shoot,’ she says, tucking her legs under her on the sofa. ‘I wore minimal make-up and my own T-shirt. And I remember the superstar photographer just sat there snoozing while all his minions set up the shot, then he just pressed a button!’
I ask how the past ten years have treated her. She’s now 38, and has become a mum, for starters. Her daughter Bluebell is four and a half. She laughs.
‘My daughter is the biggest gift; I’ve said it so many times and it sounds like a cliché, but the thing about being a parent is when you think you’ve cracked it, and you’re on top of your game, they change again and you have to catch up and adjust. I feel such a responsibility to instil good values in her, to be polite, to have discipline.’
The biggest transformation is that Geri now seems happy with how she looks. She has just designed a range of swimwear for Next, and modelled the collection for the catalogue. She spreads the bikinis and proofs of the photos on her huge wooden coffee table. ‘I always find it hard to find a bikini that fits me, because I have quite big breasts. There’s intelligence in the structure – there’s an architect involved in making your boobs look good, does that make sense? And the prices are reasonable, too: £38 for a bikini.’
From left: In 'that dress' at the Brits in 1997; with Henry at last year's Brit Awards, and introducing her daughter Bluebell to one of her own children’s books
She says that because her weight has always been up and down – ‘I’ve had small boobs, big boobs, curvy bum, skinny bum’ – she knows what works for different body shapes.
‘I’ve got one of those bodies that fluctuates, so I’ve had to really think about the construction. You know when you feel you’ve got a bit of a tummy? On holiday you want to eat well, have that freedom. This range is cut to flatter your body.’ She says she has been very hands-on in the design process, and I tell her that every celebrity always says that. ‘I always loved fashion but I’ve never been a slave to it. I’ve always collected swatches of fabric I like, so I was able to show them exactly what I wanted. Even in the Spice Girls, I would always have input into the costumes. That dress I wore for the Brits was my idea: someone sent me a black Gucci dress so I sewed on a Union Jack tea towel to liven it up a bit.’ Why hasn’t she designed a collection before now? ‘The funny thing is, I was a shop assistant in Next, a Saturday girl. The collaboration just feels right.’
I ask if she went on a diet and exercise binge before the catalogue shoot. She suffered from bulimia when she was younger, and was addicted to exercise. ‘Coming up to it, my natural instinct would have been to sort my body out, embark on a mad regime. But I don’t have time because I’m a mother; all I did was walk Bluebell to school. The thing is, when I feel like I have to lose weight, the opposite happens. I remember stuffing loads of chocolate on the plane to the shoot, and I thought, “Why don’t you have the courage to show up in a body that’s natural, not overly worked out?”’
She tells me the people at Next offered to airbrush the photos. ‘I said, “Don’t airbrush them. I don’t mind a little help but don’t make my body look what it isn’t.” If you go online – this is groundbreaking for where my head is – there’s a mini film of the Next shoot, and I looked at it once and someone with me said, “Do you mind that bit, that imperfection?” and I said, “No, leave it.”
‘I don’t know if that’s a first, but it’s definitely got better. If you’d asked me ten years ago, I would have been so controlling about how I looked. I feel you have to come to a point where you have to let go, and that’s freeing.’
What a turn-up that Geri, who was once such a slave to perfection – remember that photograph of her on an LA beach, performing a headstand? – has designed a collection that is all about allowing women to feel better about themselves. ‘I thought, “Why not start with something that really helps a woman feel good in the most vulnerable place, on the beach on holiday?”’
Was she worried she might pass on her neuroses to her daughter? ‘I obviously want to give a healthy body image to my own daughter. I think having good examples, eating properly, that’s all one can do – and just be really loving around her. I’ve tried to give her confidence in who she is.’ She laughs. ‘I think she’s all right in the confidence department.’
How did Geri overcome her own problems around food and body image? ‘It comes with time and maturity. There is so much more in the world to be thinking about than the way I look. I just wanted to be free of it. Some days are better than others. The power of food is amazing, making someone go “Mmm”. I love cooking a roast with lovely gravy and enjoying it myself. I’m a nicer person to be around, rather than being too controlling. Who wants to be around that? Being forgiving about my own imperfections, allowing messiness.’
‘I’m more forgiving these days about my own imperfections’
You’re not messy, I say, looking at the immaculate house, the tidy terrace, devoid of the litter of toys. She laughs. ‘The desire for perfection is utterly miserable. I still have dreams, I still have goals, I’m still a little vain, but actually I’m just realising my humanness. Sometimes I’m a curvy, messy person who can say the wrong thing, sometimes fail.’
Perfectionists achieve, though. You’re a worker and an achiever. ‘A little bit of drive is good, but I work better when I’m cheerleading my way into doing something rather than being overly obsessed and saying to myself, “You’ve got to do it otherwise you’re rubbish.” It’s more about going, “Come on, you’re lovely regardless.”’
I tell her she looks the best she ever has. ‘Thank you, that’s very nice. I feel comfortable and OK. I’m much more appreciative of how I look and what I’ve been given. I’ve stopped trying to be something I’m not – accepting that this is my shape and I’ve got to make the best of it.’
The biggest difference, though, in the Geri now to the Geri of ten years ago is that she’s in a happy relationship. She gives me a huge beam when I mention his name: Henry Beckwith, the 32-year-old heir to a property empire and cousin of socialite Tamara. They’ve been together nearly two years. ‘My boyfriend flies a helicopter and that’s very nice. It’s really good because I used to have a big fear of flying but it’s actually helped me, watching him flying and he’s sitting next to me. I literally put my life in his hands.’
Where did they go on their first date? ‘Not in a helicopter. I met him on the beach, and I was in a bikini. Swimwear! It does work.’
It must have taken a degree of confidence, to walk up and ask a Spice Girl on a date. ‘He was bright red, but that’s because of his skin tone. He’s going to kill me for saying that! He didn’t actually chat me up, he sent his mate to try and do it. It was quite funny.’ Do they live together? ‘No.’ Are they going to get married, or have children (her recent visit to a church has sparked engagement rumours)? ‘Not at the moment.’ She catches the eye of her assistant. ‘No. No!’ They both laugh.
Geri says her drive, the ‘extra gas in the tank’, that has got her to where she is now came about because her father died when she was 21; she is still very close to her Spanish mother, Ana. ‘His death had a massive impact. I’d found a much more peaceful, loving, balanced relationship with my father and then he died. And at such a young age, it was a shocking realisation that people can love you and then leave you. And also my parents were divorced, so I felt very distrusting of relationships and depending on anybody so I tried to become very self-dependent, which is a bit lonely. And so I was never present or available for relationships, not even one with myself. I was just consistently working all the time, or looking for a father figure.
Is she allowing Henry to look after her?
‘To a degree. It’s part of being a Leo. I really try to allow the man to be the man. We are told as little girls that Prince Charming is going to save us and whisk us off to his palace and there is a part of me that thinks, “Oh, wouldn’t that be nice?” And then someone’s brandishing the words “girl power”, telling us we’ve got to be independent, strong females. I think I’m a bit of both, which is quite confusing.’
How is Henry coping? ‘It takes a hell of a strong man to be with someone like me. I think he has a strong enough sense of self, but what I love about him is that he loves me for me. He doesn’t buy into any of the image. He finds it amusing and fun, but he’s not intoxicated by it.’
A lesser man might be jealous that she gets all the attention. ‘No, he’s very supportive and very encouraging. He’s strong and very kind. He won’t let me push him around. He’s the first alpha male I’ve gone out with and that’s why it’s working. He makes it a little bit challenging sometimes, but I love it that he’s a strong man. I went out with a doormat and he resented me and I ended up resenting him, so I appreciate that Henry is a strong man.’
Is money an issue? ‘Regardless of their background, when you are with that other person, within four walls, that’s what matters. It’s about their character and quality. I have a lot in common with Henry: we’re both fun, active, sporty. I’m very playful, I’m like a tomboy in certain ways. But for me the most important thing is integrity, loyalty and spirit, the kindness of the person. The character of the man. Completely fundamental. They’ve got to be funny and you’ve got to fancy them, too.’
I wonder if she is still close to the other Spice Girls, if she still even thinks much about those days. ‘They’re like family members to me. It’s one of those things that I don’t see them all the time but when I do, it feels like yesterday and we go back to our original roles. It’s quite funny.’ They’ve all turned out pretty well. ‘None of us has shaved our heads and ended up in rehab.’
I wonder too why she bothers to do things like be a judge on The X Factor, or design and model clothes for Next. She has enough money to never work again. ‘I am naturally, authentically, a creative person. I love painting with my daughter – we have creative sessions! That’s just who I am. In the band, I’d be in the studio writing lyrics, Victoria would be out shopping for Prada shoes. She’s always loved high-end fashion. I’m incredibly proud of her.’ Will she make another record? ‘Maybe! I’m passionate about music and I’ll always be involved in the business – I’m managing a band that you’ll see at some point. It’s very exciting. I’m a mummy, I like to nurture…’
I remind her of the documentary she made as she left the Spice Girls. That shot of her sitting on the stairs of her mansion in the country, looking afraid and alone, apart from the presence of Harry, her shih-tzu. ‘God, yes, I remember that. No, I don’t have that house any more. It’s quite hard to be objective about that time, but I’m definitely in a different place to where I was. Actually, I think I feel in certain ways I’m doing full circle. I went to see Lady Gaga in concert, and we saw each other backstage and it was really nice because there wasn’t anybody else around, and she said, “You know, Geri, you really inspired me, I really tuned in to what you stood for.” I am that girl again, the girl I was at the beginning.’
Does she ever wish all this had never happened, the fame?
‘No, not at all. I completely appreciate that I’m in a very unique, privileged position. What a safari my life has been. I just think, wow! I feel very, very lucky.’
For more information about Geri’s swimwear collection, Geri by Next, go to next.co.uk, tel: 0844 844 8939
