Meet the Real-Life Loves of the Spice Girls
Becks and beyond: get to know the partners of the famed girl band members
If you wanna be their lovers, you gotta get with their friends.
For almost 30 years, the Spice Girls — Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham — have been the embodiment of girl power, frequently reminding fans about the importance of sisterhood. And while their sentiment that "friendship never ends" continues to ring true — with rumors swirling that the girl group could even be coming together for a reunion this year — the singers have also prioritized love in their lives.
Whether it be long-term husbands, boyfriends or self-love, here's everything to know about the Spice Girls' real-life loves.
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham's love story is one for the ages. Posh Spice, 49, met her husband David Beckham, 48, in 1997 at a Manchester United soccer match. While the soccer star was worried he missed his moment with the Spice Girls singer, he says that he got a second chance when she returned to a soccer match a week later.
"We talked for about an hour in the players' lounge and then she actually got the train up that day," David said to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2020. "So she wrote her number down on her train ticket, which I still have."
The soccer star was not the only one who caught feelings quickly. In a letter she wrote to her younger self in Vogue, Victoria said, "While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family ... And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you."
The duo's love took flight quickly. They got engaged in January 1998 and wed in July 1999. Almost 25 years and four kids — Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 19, Harper, 12 — later, the couple is as in love as ever.
"I like a strong woman, and I like the fact that she works hard. I like the fact that she's a great mum," David said earlier this month on SiriusXM's This Life of Mine with James Corden. "I like the fact that she looks after me sometimes, most of the time, and you know, we've created this life with four amazing children, which are the most important things in our life, so that's why I chose Victoria ... the way that she kind of runs the family."
Mel B.
Melanie “Mel B” Brown is taking a second chance at love. Scary Spice found her happily ever after with longtime friend-turned-fiancé Rory McPhee, who proposed in October 2022.
“I was like, ‘I'm never going to get married again. Never, never, never. I'm never having a relationship. I'm fine by myself. I want to raise my kids, put my head down and work, and that's it', " the star, 48, told PEOPLE. “And then ... never can say never, can you?”
The duo is in the process of planning their wedding, having already locked down St. Paul's Cathedral in London — the same church where Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles married in 1981 — as their venue. Brown also revealed that Victoria Beckham is designing her wedding down.
The singer was married to Stephen Belafonte for 10 years before she left him due to abuse she detailed in her 2018 memoir, Brutally Honest. Before that, she was married to Jimmy Gulzar from 1998 to 2000.
The star has three daughters from previous relationships: Phoenix, 25, Angel, 16, and Madison, 12.
Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell is happily in love.
Ginger Spice, 51, met husband Christian Horner — the Formula 1 Red Bull Racing team boss — in 2009 at a racing event, but the two didn't start dating until 2014.
Their whirlwind romance led to marriage in 2015, and a year-and-a-half later, they welcomed their son, Monty George Hector. The singer and former racing driver also have children from their previous relationships: Geri is mom to daughter Bluebell Madonna Halliwell from her relationship with British director Sacha Gervasi, and Christian has a daughter, Olivia Horner, from his marriage to Beverley Allen.
"I have a great relationship with Beverley and Beverley gets on with Geri, and Geri is great with Olivia and Olivia has a lovely relationship with Monty,” Horner told The Telegraph in 2023. “It's totally harmonious."
Discussing his marriage to the singer, the racing mogul added, "Life works in mysterious ways. I didn't marry Geri because she's a Spice Girl. I married her because I fell in love with her. It will be 10 years this time next year and we've been happily married for seven."
Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton has spent almost half of her life with husband Jade Jones.
Baby Spice, 48, first met the R&B singer, 45, in the late 1990s, and let their love grow strong before getting engaged in 2011. In 2008 during an interview with Closer magazine, Bunton squashed rumors about her relationship and said, "We've been rumored to be engaged about 20 times, but we don't need a wedding to justify our relationship. But if we ever do get married, I couldn't run off and do it in secret — my family would be so upset."
In July 2021, the couple — who share sons Beau, 16, and Tate, 12 — surprised fans by tying the knot in an intimate ceremony. Both took to Instagram to share the news that they were now "Mr and Mrs Jones," while the other Spice Girls went to the comments to share their congratulations.
"Congratulations 🎉🍾🎈 love u both so much!! X," wrote fellow Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. "Yeahhhhhh! Congratulations 🥂love you all sooooooo much 💗," commented Mel C. "Yipppeee," wrote Mel B.
Bunton and Jones are still going strong. To celebrate Baby Spice's 48th birthday in January, Jones posted a series of photographs of the duo kissing and wrote, "Happy birthday to my wonderful wife! I love you so much baby and everyday with you makes this a wonderful world!! X."
Mel C.
Melanie "Mel C" Chisholm is 50 and is focused on herself as she enters this new chapter of life.
Taking to Instagram in January to commemorate her milestone birthday and the performance she put on to celebrate, Sporty Spice wrote, "50 feels so good!!! Thank you to everyone for making this the best birthday EVER!!! A weekend filled with friends and family new and old (fans being both!)...Exhausted but happy 😊 Just thinking what to do for the next big one!!! 😉."
The Spice Girl was in a relationship with music producer Joe Marshall for seven years before they called it quits in 2022, reportedly due to busy schedules.
Prior to Marshall, Chisholm spent 10 years with property developer Thomas Starr, with whom she shares daughter Scarlet, 15.
"Becoming a mum makes you realize how important you are," Melanie told PEOPLE in 2020. "I have somebody that I want to be here to take care of and protect. I want to be my absolute best for her. She's the thing that made me really appreciate my body and my mind."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.