“Age is a gift…”

Geri Horner opens up about fame and reinvention with Rosie Green

Geri Horner (née Halliwell), aka Ginger Spice, is not like most of us. She has a PA, a nanny, a high-profile husband, is worth an estimated £30 million, has a very large house in London’s Highgate and is next-level famous. She, as if you need reminding, was one-fifth of the biggest-selling girl band of all time (85 million records worldwide), had 11 number ones (four of which were solo), and counts Robbie Williams among her exes.

And yet, as I enter the Horner residence, I’m greeted by a scene that is reassuringly everywoman. First, there are plastic toys everywhere and one of them is playing Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. Loudly. Her baby son Monty is sitting in his high chair sporting mush splatters and a big grin. The kitchen’s work surfaces are cluttered with the detritus of family life. In the downstairs loo, there is one of those collages you normally make (and leave) at university and a Radox hand soap (no Diptyque here). Shoes litter the hall. Framed pictures clutter every surface and wall.

I’m sitting on a sofa in her living room, trying not to get caught scrutinising the photographs too closely (lots of her and her new husband Christian, if you’re asking) when Horner appears. She’s tiny

(5ft 1in) in tight jeans and a black, short-sleeved knit. As we both size each other up, I wonder if she’s moved on from the bum-pinching, brash boldness that characterised Ginger. I also pray she will not be dismissive, uptight or domineering.

Joyfully, she is none of these things. She is open, funny and honest. Turns out she’s doing this interview because she’s “reclaiming her identity” eight months after the birth of her gorgeous, red-headed miracle baby Monty. “I surrendered myself to domesticity, but now I’m

I surrendered myself to DOMESTICITY, but now I’m pulling myself out. I like to be CREATIVE and WORKING