Mel B hints at Spice Girls reunion – including Victoria Beckham

Published

2 years ago

May 30, 2023

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At the start of Mel B’s new drag talent show, she says she is looking for a new member of the Spice Girls to go on tour with.

But perhaps that won’t be necessary as the star has told Sky News it won’t be long until the five original members get back together.

“We are going to be doing some stuff, all five of us pretty soon, which is going to be announced,” she said.

“But yeah, I like giving a little bit of a dig to my girls – ‘I’m going to replace ya’ – not that I ever would or I ever could anyway.”

For fans desperate to know if that “stuff” means a Spice Girls tour, Mel had this to add: “There will be – if I’ve got anything to do with it.”

The Spice Girls last reunited for a tour in 2019, but as a four-piece without Victoria Beckham. The last time all five performed together was for the London Olympics in 2012.

For now, Mel is joining the second series of Queen Of The Universe, a talent show that sees drag queens from across the world singing live.

She’s on the panel along with returning judges including RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage, actress and singer Vanessa Williams, and US drag superstar Trixie Mattel.

Despite being there to critique the queens, Mel is also sympathetic when things don’t necessarily go their way. She remembers how it feels to be on the receiving end, she says.

“I think back when Spice Girls were out, it was way harsher because we weren’t seen to be pushed to be so politically correct.

“So it was more like, ‘You’re fat, you’re this, you’re the wrong colour’ – whereas now it’s a little bit more inclusive and a little bit kinder, if I can say that.

“So it’s not as harsh, but the struggle is still there – I mean, on the show you get to hear some of the stories and the trauma that they’ve gone through to be still part of the drag community and still do their drag act, and it’s not an easy road at all for any of them.”

‘In drag, you will get cut down if you’re not good enough’

There’s no doubt that drag is gaining popularity – with shows such as Queen Of The Universe and RuPaul’s Drag Race bringing it to TV audiences across the world.

“I think because it’s more and more accessible in people’s everyday now, people are having to look at it and actually give it credit because it is an art form and it’s never going away,” says Mel. “So we might as well celebrate and all join in.

“It’s a tough world out there, just like any part of the entertainment world is, but particularly drag because you will get cut down if you’re not good enough or you have to learn the hard way.

“Being part of this show, I get to see it first and foremost right there in front of me, and I get to see stuff that goes wrong and how they can kind of turn it around and just make it part of the routine – you’ve got nails pinging off, you’ve got wigs being flung everywhere. It’s really dramatic.”

While giving her feedback, Mel doesn’t soften any blows. At one point, another member of the panel tells her to “stop being scary, Scary!”, in reference to her Spice Girls nickname.

Scary, Posh, Baby, Ginger and Sporty were the nicknames dished out to Mel and her bandmates when they first rose to fame in the 1990s. They instantly stuck after being dished out by a “teenybopper magazine” journalist. “It wasn’t a thing that we necessarily chose, but it was like, I don’t mind my name… well, let’s just roll with it then,” she says. “And it’s one of those things that just made sense so why even try and correct it?”

But she says that perhaps it suited her because she isn’t afraid to say what she thinks.

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“I think maybe my northernish attitude can make it feel like I’m scary, but I’m just what you see is what you get. And I’m honest, which is why I like being on this panel because, you know, I’ve done these other shows before and some of the other judges have like a writer writing their stuff or they like to watch rehearsals.

“I’m not that person – I like to be in the moment and critique and comment on what I see right there in that moment, so I don’t always know what I’m going to say, but I know it comes from a good place and I’m always going to be honest.”

Mel might be direct, but some of the drag acts are happy to push back on what she says – something she has mixed feelings about.

“I do respect it, but then also you’ve got to think of why we’re on the panel in the first place – it’s to give our critique. And I’ve got so much experience from performing and doing Broadway and touring the world with the Spice Girls that I’m like, ‘No, I think I know a little bit more than you, otherwise you’d be sitting here’.”

Queen Of The Universe premieres on Paramount + in the UK on Saturday 3 June

UK

Starmer to announce formal recognition of Palestine as a state

Published

7 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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Starmer to announce formal recognition of Palestine as a state

The UK will formally recognise Palestine as a state, it is understood.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to make the announcement on Sunday after he said in July that the government would make the move unless Israel met certain conditions.

The prime minister had called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take substantive steps to end the “appalling situation in Gaza“, agree to a ceasefire, commit to a long-term sustainable peace, allow the UN to restart the supply of aid, and not annex the West Bank.

The Israeli foreign ministry furiously rejected his statement, with Mr Netanyahu claiming that “Starmer rewards Hamas‘s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims”.

Ilay David, brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David, who was seen emaciated in a video last month, said giving recognition was “like saying to Hamas: ‘It is OK, you can keep starving the hostages, you can keep using them as human shields.’

“This kind of recognition gives Hamas power to be stubborn in negotiations. That is the last thing we need right now.”

There has been no ceasefire, and the situation in Gaza has deteriorated, with a declaration of a famine in Gaza City and the expansion of Israeli military operations.

Israel has launched a major ground offensive to seize all of Gaza City and destroy Hamas in an operation which has prompted widespread condemnation, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling it “utterly reckless and appalling”.

Earlier this month, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel said the claim was “distorted and false”.

The UK will join 147 of the 193 members of the UN who recognise Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

Other nations, including France, Australia and Canada, have said they plan to take the same step at the UN gathering as part of a broad international effort to put pressure on Israel.

During a joint news conference with the prime minister at Chequers on Thursday, Donald Trump said he disagreed with recognition, and US politicians have urged the UK and other allies to reverse their stance.

Sky News understands that Israel is considering options in response to the UK’s decision, but the strength of that reaction is still under consideration.

Family members of some of the 48 hostages still in captivity, after Hamas and other militant groups stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, have written an open letter to Sir Keir, condemning the move.

“Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal,” they said.

“We write to you with a simple plea – do not take this step until our loved ones are home and in our arms.”

The UK government is understood to be looking at further sanctions on Hamas, and has demanded the group release all hostages, agree to an immediate ceasefire, accept it will have no role in governing Gaza, and commit to disarmament.

UK

Heathrow among major airports hit by delays after cyber attack

Published

10 hours ago

September 20, 2025

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Heathrow among major airports hit by delays after cyber attack

Heathrow was among a number of major airports across Europe hit by delays after a suspected cyber attack that targeted a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.

The “technical issue” affecting Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding services for various airlines, resulted in 14 flights being cancelled at Brussels Airport on Saturday, and several more being delayed at London Heathrow, Berlin, and Dublin, among others.

‘Very clever cyber attack’ cancels flights in Europe – latest

Passengers have reported being unable to check in online, instead queuing for hours for staff to deal with them manually at desks and departure gates, only to be told their flights are not taking off.

Helen Steel, 49, left Dorset for Heathrow at 3am to travel home to Oslo, with her cat Thomas – but was “shouted at by staff” who told her she would not be able to fly until Sunday.

Describing the situation as an “absolute nightmare”, she said: “I’ve got an animal here, so I’m very concerned about his welfare.

“I’ve been shouted at twice and I broke down in tears because I was worried about him. None of us have had any information whatsoever. Whenever we ask ground staff, they shout at us.”

Ms Steel says she spent two hours in the queue on the phone to customer service and is now having to find a hotel to stay in overnight.

Sam arrived at Heathrow expecting to drop his girlfriend off for her flight to Rio de Janeiro – but was still at the airport seven hours later.

When they arrived, it was “chaos everywhere”, he told Sky News, with “nobody seeming to know what was going on”.

The couple say they were not told about the cyber attack by airport staff, finding out about it online instead.

After queuing for three hours, they made it to the front, only to be told the plane was not taking off, he adds.

“Her flight was at 8.40am and it was held back until 10.15am. At 10.10am they sent everyone away and told them to contact the airline. But there are no representatives for any airlines whatsoever. It’s been a bit of a farce.

“Nobody knew where they were going – and they were sending people left, right, and centre.

“She’s going tomorrow now, but we’ve got to find a hotel, and no one is here to give us any hotel vouchers. They just give you a piece of paper and say ‘you’ve got to pay for it yourself’.”

‘Insane queues’ and ‘skeleton staff’

Passenger Tereza Pultarova waited around 10 hours at Heathrow after she arrived at 4.30am for her flight to Cape Town via Amsterdam.

“We were kind of stranded here because KLM wasn’t able to issue us boarding passes digitally, and requested us to collect them at the check-in desk,” she said.

“And then they told us that there is some sort of global issue with the system they’re using for check-in and boarding, and they have to do everything manually. So then they were checking in people at the rate of, like, one person per 10 minutes.

“I’m not exaggerating. It was just insane, the queue wasn’t moving. And then suddenly they said, ‘Oh, the flight will be departing, we’re closing the gate’.

Maria Casey was due to fly to Thailand with Etihad Airways – but had to wait three hours to drop off her luggage at Heathrow, with staff taking between five and 10 minutes to deal with each passenger.

“The queues are terrible,” she told Sky News. “It was an absolute skeleton staff. Out of six of the desks there were probably two people”.

A Heathrow spokesperson advised people to arrive no more than three hours early for a flight and apologised for any inconvenience.

It is understood British Airways at Terminal 5 remains unaffected and is operating as normal.

Collins Aerospace said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

“We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (Multi-User System Environment) software in select airports, the firm said in a statement.

“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations. We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.”

UK

‘Delighted to be free’: Elderly British couple who were detained by Taliban arrive in UK

Published

11 hours ago

September 20, 2025

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'Delighted to be free': Elderly British couple who were detained by Taliban arrive in UK

An elderly British couple who have arrived back in the UK after being detained in a maximum security Taliban prison are “delighted to be free”, their son has told Sky News.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were arrested in February after spending decades in Afghanistan, where they have dual citizenship.

They had been held without charge before being released from detention on Friday and flown to Qatar, where they were reunited with their daughter, before flying back to Heathrow Airport on Saturday.

The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, told Sky News: “They’re just delighted to be free… they’re very excited to see their kids and grandkids and great grandkids, people they’ve just been wanting to catch up with and wondered if they’d ever see them again.”

Jonathan, who spoke to his parents from Wyoming in the US in a FaceTime call with some of his siblings, said: “I’ve seen photographs of them in hospital beds getting checked. I’ve seen them having full English breakfasts. So they’re jumping on that.”

He described some of the conditions his parents had been kept under in a “big maximum security prison with thousands of inmates”.

“My dad described being handcuffed or chained to other criminals. And, one point he had his chest hairs ripped out,” he said.

“He was hit in the head. And, then they were moved, to more of a safe house.”

But Jonathan said his parents retained their British politeness even when calling him from a payphone in the prison yard, with his dad asking: “Is now a good time?”.

“It was totally, ‘Yeah, not too bad. Where’s the queue to get out of here?'”

The UK government advises British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson at the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, said in a statement posted on X that the couple “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison after a court hearing.

He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.

Sky correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.