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

What will the UK’s recognition of Palestine achieve?

Published

2 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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What will the UK's recognition of Palestine achieve?

Today, Sir Keir Starmer will deliver on his pledge to recognise a Palestinian state – after setting out a series of conditions in July which there was little prospect Israel could meet, including agreeing a ceasefire with Hamas.

The prime minister will say it recognises the “inalienable right” of the Palestinian people and what he feels is a moral responsibility to keep a two-state solution alive, amid the devastation of the war and concern about settlement expansion in the West Bank.

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This will be formally put forward by the British government at a conference of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, after a diplomatic push led by Emmanuel Macron. Canada and Australia are also expected to recognise it, although may call for Hamas to disarm.

But Labour has always said it’s a move they would make as part of a peace process, which looks further away than ever.

What does it mean?

The move has been heavily criticised and leaves a number of questions not only about what it will achieve – but about whether it will have the opposite effect on the conflict.

David Lammy as foreign secretary conceded when the pledge was announced that “it will not change the position on the ground” which can only come through negotiations.

After all, 147 of the 193 member states of the United Nations recognise it already. Palestine has permanent observer status at the UN – speaking rights, but not voting rights – where it’s represented by the Palestinian Authority. Any move to full status would have to be agreed by the Security Council where the US has a veto.

Sir Keir has made clear he doesn’t accept Hamas – which he calls a “brutal terrorist organisation” – as a government in Gaza. The borders of such a state, wrangled over for decades during multiple rounds of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, are also not agreed.

Criticism

Recognition is opposed by the Trump administration, as the US president made clear in London last week. US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said it would “embolden Hamas” and be symbolic only.

In Britain there is cynicism too. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has accused the prime minister of a “desperate and insincere attempt to placate his backbenchers”. He heads to the party’s conference in Liverpool next week with a further slump in his approval ratings to -42%, around where Rishi Sunak’s was after his D-Day blunder.

Over a third of Labour MPs wrote to Sir Keir before his pledge in July, calling for recognition of a Palestinian state. It is not clear this symbolic move will placate them, with some already calling for tougher measures including on arms sales to Israel – especially after a UN Commission of Inquiry claimed Israel had committed genocide.

Other Labour MPs oppose the recognition move. The Labour Friends of Israel group has said: “It is important to recognise that Israel is not the only party to this conflict… Hamas could end this conflict tomorrow by releasing the hostages and laying down its arms.”

The move is also opposed by the families of the hostages in Gaza, of which 20 are believed to be alive – for not imposing their release as a condition on Hamas.

Ilay David, the brother of Evyatar David, who recently appeared emaciated in a Hamas video, said: “We want to meet with Starmer but he refuses to meet with us… Giving this recognition is 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.”

Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s Chief Rabbi has said the “unconditional” recognition of the state “is not contingent upon a functioning or democratic Palestinian government, nor even upon the most basic commitment to a peaceful future”.

What happens next?

Sir Keir met 89-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in London this month and they agreed Hamas should not be involved in the governance of Gaza.

Efforts to set up a transitional government have been discussed between the US and Gulf states. But Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said last week there was nothing “ready for signature”.

The UK government is expected to announce further sanctions on Hamas figures this week. But the Israeli government has already responded with fury to the prospect of recognition and it’s reported that retaliation could include further annexations in the West Bank.

The UK government sees this as an important diplomatic move with allies, when nothing else is moving the dial. But it can only be made once, and even supporters in government acknowledge that on the ground in Gaza it won’t immediately change very much.

UK

British fighter jets defend Polish skies after Russian drone incursion

Published

5 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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British fighter jets defend Polish skies after Russian drone incursion

Two British fighter jets have flown their first defence mission over Poland after a Russian drone incursion into the country’s skies.

The flight was part of NATO‘s operation “Eastern Sentry”, launched to bolster Europe’s eastern flank after Poland shot down Russian drones earlier this month.

A Russian drone was intercepted flying over Romania days later, while three Russian jets entered Estonian airspace without permission for 12 minutes on Friday.

The three incursions into NATO airspace fuelled concerns about the potential expansion of Russia‘s three-year war in Ukraine and have been seen as an attempt by Moscow to test the military alliance’s response.

The incident over Poland prompted its prime minister, Donald Tusk, to warn that his country was the closest to “open conflict” it had been since the Second World War, while the UK announced it would provide Warsaw with extra air cover.

Two RAF Typhoons, supported by an RAF Voyager air-to-air refuelling plane, took off from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, on Friday night to defend Poland’s skies before returning safely early on Saturday morning.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the mission sends a clear signal that “NATO airspace will be defended”.

“I’m proud of the outstanding British pilots and air crew who took part in this successful operation to defend our allies from reckless Russian aggression.”

He said the mission was “especially poignant” coming as the UK marks the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain – when Polish pilots came to the aid of the UK – this weekend.

The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth, said: “This sortie marks the RAF’s first operational mission on Eastern Sentry, reinforcing the UK’s steadfast commitment to NATO and its allies.

“We remain agile, integrated, and ready to project airpower at range.”

UK

Starmer to announce formal recognition of Palestine as a state

Published

14 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.