DECEMBER 2001

07.12.01 GERI HALLIWELL PAID FOR OMAN TRIP From The Mirror

Geri Halliwell was paid a bumper £80,000 fee for her shows for British troops in Oman last month. Geri's deal adds up to the biggest celebrity cash payment ever made by army bosses. The figure was revealed by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram in a parliamentary letter. The October gigs, which also featured Steps, cost the Ministry Of Defence more than £550,000. Geri always maintained she had only taken 'expenses.' The average cost of a show for entertaining troops is £6,562. A spokesman for Geri told the Daily Mirror: 'Geri paid her own expenses and ended up spending £100,000. She was substantially and happily out of pocket.'.

06.12.01 GERI SHOWS COST MINISTRY £500,000 From Electronik Telegraph

Two shows for British troops on exercise in Oman by Geri Halliwell cost the Ministry of Defence more than half a million pounds. After media reports that Miss Halliwell, formerly Ginger Spice, was paid "tens of thousands" for her appearances in September, Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces Minister, has said they cost £550,055 in total. The average cost of shows for troops overseas in the past five years was £6,562. The Halliwell performances worked out at about £75 for each member of both audiences. Reports that Miss Halliwell charged large sums have surprised other stars who pride themselves on performing for troops for much less than they would usually receive. But Jonathan Hackford, her agent, said all three acts who took part were paid £80,000 each. He said: "Geri walked away £20,000 out of pocket. She subsidised the trip with money from her production company. Geri had eight dancers and 12 costume changes. She was determined to put on a first class show for the troops.". Miss Halliwell was accused by officers organising the shows and by her fellow stars Steps of having a demanding attitude. She allegedly insisted she be given a complete wing of the Salalah Hilton to herself. While Steps and Bobby Davro, the other star on the show, were out in the desert meeting the troops, Miss Halliwell was posing for photographs in a bikini on a beach. Mr Hackford denied that Miss Halliwell had shown any irritation or made any demands other than to ask for cold non-alcoholic drinks for herself and her dancers when they came off stage. He insisted she had spent an entire day "travelling in a Chinook helicopter along the supply routes, visiting troop hospitals and supply depots, none of which she was contracted to do".

06.12.01 YOUR NUMBER'S UP GERI From The Mirror

GERI Halliwell is a truly disillusioned girl.
"The other day I was listening to my album and I started thinking, 'This is really good. I like it and a million other people bought it and think the same.' How cool is that?" she tells next month's L&K magazine.
Unfortunately, not that cool. For Ms Halliwell's album actually sold just 120,000 copies.

05.12.01 FLOP STAR GERI From The Mirror

MORE bad news for Geri Halliwell - she's been branded a failure. Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell has spoken for the nation... and suggested she finds another career. "I recommend Geri goes into TV. She's very very good at yoga, but she's no pop star," he said at the Children's Baftas on Sunday night. "She's had a lot of money spent on her, she's had loads of songs given to her. But she hasn't cut the mustard. Simple as that. "She needs to find another career because I don't think she's a pop star.". Got the message now, Geri?.

04.12.01 SIMON COWELL SAYS GERI IS NOT A POP STAR From Radio 1

Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell has found another popstar to get his claws into. Last week he told Radio 1 that he wouldn't have chosen half of Hear'Say to be his idols. This time he is giving Geri Halliwell a bashing. He told us she should look for another job: "She needs to find another career, because I don't think she's a popstar, I really don't. She's a pop singer, not a popstar. Geri, you're very, very good at doing yoga. Look, she has had a tonne of money spent on her, she has had a load of songs given to her, she hasn't cut the mustard, simple as that.". Simon also didn't mince his words on Saturday when he told Pop Idol singer Rik Waller that he was "getting big-headed.". This didn't stop Rik from getting through to the final ten with train driver Aaron Bayley.

04.12.01 ROBBIE AND GERI LOSE VIEWERS' VOTE From BBC

Robbie Williams and Geri Halliwell have been dropped from the Record of the Year shortlist following a public vote, but Kylie Minogue is still tipped to win. Television viewers phoned to vote for their favourite song for the annual Record of the Year competition, but William's Eternity and Halliwell's It's Raining Men did not make the grade. Bob the Builder, Gorillaz and Afroman were also rejected, leaving the final competition to Blue, Kylie Minogue, S Club 7, DJ Pied Piper & The Masters Of Ceremony, Shaggy, Wyclkef Jean, Hear'Say, Destiny's Child, Wheatus and Atomic Kitten. Minogue's I Can't Get You Out of My Head is the current bookmakers' favourite.

03.12.01 CALLING ENTERS UK CHARTS AT # 7

Geri Halliwell's new single Calling entered the UK singles chart at Number 7. Geri's single was predicted to enter the chart around 8 but it just climbed a little bit more and got number 7. Geri's number ones singles include Mi chico latino, lift me up, bag it up and It's raining men. Schizo:GEri will provide more information about the single movements in the UK charts soon.

03.12.01 ROBBIE SNUBS GERI ON PARKY From Ananova

Robbie Williams has again snubbed former friend Geri Halliwell by refusing to appear on Parkinson at the same time. The singers, who once slept together, were booked to perform on the Christmas special of Parky's BBC1 chat show. But when Robbie discovered that Geri was due at the studio alongside him he pulled out of Thursday night's recording. So desperate was Robbie not to run into the girl he has described as "mad" and "demonic", he insisted on performing his song in the afternoon. But when viewers see the show, it will seem that all is well as the pair are seen standing just a few feet from each other. BBC producers plan to edit the programme so that as Michael introduces Robbie, Geri will be clapping and smiling as if she can hardly wait for her friend to start singing. Geri is interviewed by the chat show king before performing her new single Calling. According to Parky insiders, Robbie was booked to perform at the BBC TV Centre in West London - but not be interviewed. A source told The Mirror last night: "Everyone here thought it was terribly funny that these two, who have been splashed all over the papers on holiday together and hugging at awards shows, now can't even be in the same room as each other "It must have been some falling out.". It the latest chapter in Robbie's feud with the former Spice Girl. It started when Robbie, 27, gave a magazine interview in which he revealed their friendship was over. He said: "She turned into a demonic little girl. She developed this possessed look in her eye. It was genuinely scaring me. She was mad. It was around this time that I realised that our friendship wasn't what I thought. I don't miss her. I'd be lying if I said I did.". He also revealed the pair had slept together despite the fact he didn't fancy her. Next Robbie had 28-year-old Geri cut out of a documentary about his amazing year - Nobody Someday. But he later tried to patch things up with his former best friend by claiming he had been misquoted. In a three-hour phone call he begged Geri to forgive him - but his pleading fell on deaf ears. Now the feud is clearly back on - in style. During the show Geri claimed to have no hard feelings towards Robbie. After the applause for the pretend "performance", Parkinson turns to Geri and asks if she likes Robbie. "Yes. Yes, I love him," she replied. Parky also chats to comedian Lenny Henry, who is starring in his own Christmas special on BBC1. Other guests included Dame Edna Everage and teenage star Charlotte Church singing Silent Night. The show can be seen on BBC1 on December 22.

03.12.01 PRIDE BEFORE FALL From Sunday People

Geri Halliwell stunned her theatrical agents when she asked them to get her a role in a period drama like Pride and Prejudice.

03.12.01 JIMMY GULZAR SAYS IT ALL From Sunday People

Jimmy Gulzar is filming a documentary about his 15 month marriage to ex-Scary Spice Melanie B. The little film is also supposed to reveal the real reason why Geri Halliwell left the band.

03.12.01 ROBBIE IS NOT GERI PLEASANT From Sunday People

Robbie Williams and Geri Halliwell used to be great mates. He even penned one of his hits, Eternity, in her honour. But he recently slated her in a magazine interview and referred to her as a "demonic little girl" and "mad". Then he had her cut out of a documentary cataloguing his amazing year. Now we learn he has refused to appear on the Parkinson Christmas special at the same time because he didn't want to bump into her. Last summer Robbie blatantly used their friendship to get him column inches in the papers by referring to their sex life - even though they weren't lovers. He's using their fall-out to do the same thing while Geri keeps a dignified silence - even though she needs publicity. Robbie constantly bleats on about how being famous prevents him from making friends or finding a girlfriend. Judging by the appalling way he has treated Geri, he clearly deserves neither