Interview - October 2001

Geri Halliwell tells CAMERON ADAMS about her yoga video and that is all well between her and her former bandmates.

-Are you excited about coming to Australia for the Rumba festival?

-I am, yeah. Well, I mean, you never know what might happen between now and then, but my intention is that I'm coming.

-You don't sound 100 per cent sure. You know you're being advertised as part of the bill ...

-Well, with the world the way it is, you really have to live day-to-day.

-OK. So assuming you do come, will you be singing live? You seem to mime It's Raining Men quite a lot ...

-Well, I can't sing when I'm being thrown upside down. When I sing It's Raining Men I've got to leave that one on (backing) track, but the rest I get quite excited doing live.

-You said your current album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was the best you could do, and that if people didn't like it you didn't know what more you could do. Are you happy with its sales?

-Yeah. I think the key is having no expectations. I went through a period of thinking it's the best thing I've done, but I've got no power over whether anyone else likes it. I really like it. I think Calling is the best thing I've done. I'm very attached to that one more than anything I've done.

-Were you disappointed when the title track peaked at No. 8 in the UK, after you'd had four No. 1 s in a row?

-I'd had a clean track record. Of course the ego and the perfectionist in me would always like to get the Grade-A. But in another way it's a blessing, and a relief in certain respects. Not everyone is going to like what I do and that song in particular is one of those records you either really like or really don't. I think intellectually and musically it's a really clever record. I had a lot of musos coming up to me saying they love it. It wasn't maybe everybody's cup of tea, but that's OK. My career can't always be about pleasing the masses. It taught me to really appreciate things, to remind me that No. 1 s aren't always guaranteed.

-Your former bandmate Victoria Beckham told Hit she thought you copied her Not Such an Innocent Girl concept for your Scream video.

-She actually said that?

-She said it was too much of a coincidence ...

-Wow. All I can say is that great minds think alike. I can't speak on behalf of Victoria, but at the end of the day there's no truth in that. I don't think it benefits anyone to copy; people strive to find their own ideas, so I think that's the last thing I would do.

-In her book she basically blames you for her eating disorder. How did you react to that?

-You know what, what goes on between me and Victoria is really not for public consumption. But what I will say is that if I caused anybody to go through any pain then that's really sad. But I don't think anybody's that powerful or influential on the next person. I have to take responsibility for my own behaviour. Obviously I do know eating disorders are a little bit contagious, but I think it should stay out of the public arena, really.

-How did it get so nasty between the two of you?

-It hasn't got nasty between the two of us. Absolutely not. That's mediafuelled bulls... that makes interesting copy. We've been through far too much to have any negativity towards each other. I can only want the best for Victoria, she deserves all she's going to get: love, success.

-There's another rumour that you and another ex-bandmate, Emma Bunton, have insisted you are kept away from each other when you both appear at Rumba.

-That's bulls....

-OK, is it true you're doing a yoga video?

-Now that's true. I finished that last week; it'll be out before Christmas.

-Is it an instructional video?

-Yeah, it's for beginners and people who want to know how to do yoga. It's for all ages, all shapes and sizes.

-And it'll discuss how you got to look like you do?

-Definitely.

-Were you flattered by all the fuss about your new body?

-It's how you deal with it. It's nice to be complimented but it's not everything. I have to be very careful about all these compliments. A pat on the back is 10 inches away kick up the a.... But it's nice to get recognition because I've worked my butt off, doing all the sit-ups.

-Is it a struggle to maintain fame?

-It's more a struggle coping with it. I'm coming around to understanding that it's not within my control, I don't decide, it's down to the public interest; it's none of my business whether I'm famous or not. I can only do my best. With my career, fame is a by-product of what I do. I create pop music for people's pleasure, fame comes from achievement and celebrity, that's a by-product.

-Have you started on a third album?

-I have. I'm quite excited. My record company have picked up my option for my third album, which is nice.

-Is it true Robbie Williams wrote Eternity about you?

-Um. I'm not going to confirm or deny. That's up to Rob, he wrote it. If someone might have written a song about me that's an absolutely beautiful thing to have happen, but I'm not in a position to talk about someone's personal creation like that

-Are you two still friends?

-Yep. I don't see him as much as I'd like to, but we're going all over the world. You have to do what you have to do.

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (EMI) out now. Geri Halliwell, Rumba Festival, Colonial Stadium, November 17 (maybe!)