Say you'll be where? Spice Girls taunt Australian fans by taking back promise of tour

The Spice Girls have continued to taunt their Australian fans by saying a down under tour was imminent and then retracting the promise within hours.

On stage at London’s Wembley Stadium for the final show of their UK tour on Saturday night, Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown seemed to confirm a tour would spice up the lives of Australian audiences in 2020, saying: “See you in February in Australia!”

The announcement sent Australian fans into a spin on social media, as the 1990s pop group have never toured the country – famously cancelling a scheduled show in Sydney in 2008 citing members’ family commitments.

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2020 looked more like a wannabe tour in the cold light of Monday morning, however, as Brown said in a radio interview that an Australia tour wasn’t quite so certain, and that she was just “manifesting” the idea.

“I’m always going to say the Spice Girls are going to continue and continue to tour the entire world,” she said.

“I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about it. We need to come to Australia, first out the gate. We’ve done London and now we need to come to Australia. So I announced it on stage, yes, without everybody else signing off on it. But I figured if I put it out there I figured maybe it’s going to happen.”

Earlier on Sunday evening Geri “Ginger Spice” Horner apologised for leaving the Spice Girls in 1998 – a move that shocked fans at the time and was seen by many as the beginning of the end for the group, which went on hiatus for almost eight years in 2000.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry for leaving. I was just being a brat.”

Since that first hiatus the Spice Girls have re-formed repeatedly for appearances and tours, with varying lineups. The just-completed reunion tour featured only four of the group – Horner, Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton – with Victoria Beckham sitting out.