Geri Halliwell’s attempt to wish her Spice Girls bandmate Mel B a happy birthday on Wednesday morning didn’t quite pack on the sincerity in a way she’d hoped.
Alongside a series of photos of the two performers together over the years, Geri wrote on Instagram: “Happy birthday @OfficialMelB ! Hope you have an amazing day!”
However, this was preceded by what appeared to be a copy and pasted message from Geri’s social media team, which read: “Sent images to Pippa and this wording asked her to tweak where needed.”
And while the caption was hastily edited, the original message was quickly screenshotted and posted on X.
Fans on Instagram also picked up on the original caption, with one writing in the comments: “Caption is changed…. But we all saw it.”
“Sending much love to Pippa on this day, she might need a wine glass or two,” another wrote, while a different commenter joked: “Pippa, I’d tweak it to add a little more sincerity.”
“Friendship never ends… unless Pippa gets involved,” another joked.
It’s been no secret that things between Geri and Mel have been a little frosty in the last few years, with The Sun citing an unnamed “source” last month who claimed things between the pair were a little awkward due to the latter’s continued jokes about the former’s age.
In 2022, Mel also named Geri as one of the biggest “dickhead” celebrities she’d ever encountered, having already thrown some shade while guest hosting Steph McGovern’s now-defunct lunchtime show on Channel 4.
The former X Factor judge also opened up about her relationship with Geri during an interview at WOW Festival in Manchester on Tuesday night, which was caught on camera by one fan who posted it on X.
“I do love her. We’re kind of peas in a pod,” she explained. “When we first got into Spice Girls, me and her, [we literally had] nobody to tell us not to do something. So if she said ‘jump off a cliff’, I’d jump off a cliff. If she said, ‘let’s go and swim down the river, it’s really dangerous’, I would do it too. We had each other’s back.”
After a pause, Mel then declared: “But… things have changed! But hopefully we’ll be back! But I adore her. She will always have me championing her.”