Ten things you didn't know about the Spice Girls

They really, really want a posh frock and a footballer: Ten things you didn't know about the Spice Girls

1. Plans are underway to stage a Spice Girls musical in the West End, produced by the woman behind the Abba musical, Mamma Mia!

Bookmakers are already accepting bets on the casting for this must-see event. Names currently being touted for key roles include Jan Leeming (Posh Spice), Janet Street-Porter (Ginger Spice), Edwina Currie (Scary Spice), Margaret Beckett (Sporty Spice) and June Whitfield (Baby Spice).

2. Fans are being kept in a state of high excitement about the contents of the show. 'All our greatest hits will be featured,' says former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, so the first eight-and-a-half minutes are easily filled. With two intervals of 20 minutes each, the show is already halfway written.

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3. The musical will be a celebration of Girl Power,' explains an insider. The term 'Girl Power' is now largely obsolete, but dictionaries from the era define it as a term meaning 'the empowerment of young women the world over to follow their dreams and take control of their destinies by wearing push-up bras and singing flat'.

4. The Spice Girls still have a huge fan-base. There was standing room only for a recent solo concert by Ginger Spice at the prestigious Village Hall in Chorlton-cum-Stanley. 'We would have provided seating, but Ms Halliwell felt it would be an extra expense,' explains village hall chairman Maureen Pigeon JP.

5. Spice Girls Musicalis set to feature other global phenomena from the same era. These include Betamax videos, the Sinclair C5, the movie Heaven's Gate, the Smurfs, Filofax, Tony Blair's New Labour and top soap opera Eldorado.

6. The Spice Girls have all pursued hugely successful solo careers. Mel C co-owns the third-largest health and fitness centre in West Barnsley, Mel B was recently featured on the Tyne Tees series Celebrity Come Yo-Yoing, in which six former celebrities, including Ann Widdecombe, Michael Barrymore, Peter Sissons, Martin Amis and Judge Pickles, try their hand at mastering the yo-yo, Emma Bunton is busy marketing her own range of carpet tiles, Geri Halliwell wears a designer swimsuit in her new advertisement for a walk-in bath in this month's Saga magazine, and Victoria Beckham recently picked up the much-coveted award for Third Thinnest Person in Los Angeles.

7. A hoard of original Spice Girls memorabilia was discovered last month during an archaeological dig at closely-guarded site outside Chester. Experts say that, in Spice Girls terms, the discovery is on a par with Sutton Hoo.

Spice up your life: Mel C, Emma Bunton, Melanie B, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham are in talks to launch a Spice Girls West End musical

'These are things that no one in Britain has heard or seen for a great many years,' says dig supervisor Professor Eric Kimble of Uxbridge University. 'Some people were beginning to think that the Spice Girls had never even existed.

But I can now confirm that we have uncovered one original pink Girl Power T- shirt and an unplayed Spice World DVD. However, I am not prepared to make any further comment on our findings at this period in time.'

8. From the charred remains of five Spice Girl 2in plastic dolls, available free in the mid-1990s with Tesco Own-Brand Corn Puffs, experts have been able to piece together full- size working replicas of the original Spice Girls.

'Our findings suggest that that they had pale green skin, and heads that moved from side to side. Two of the Spice Girls may have had necks that measured three foot or more, which would have enabled them to reach some of the higher vegetation,' says Professor Kimble.

He adds: 'Our findings suggest there is no evidence at all that they were able to sing in any accepted meaning of the word, as has previously been rumoured.'

9. Alone among the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham refused to smile for the first 25 years of her life. The only time she was seen to smile was during a photo-session in October 1998, when she thought she was being photographed upside-down, so was attempting to put her scowl into reverse.

10. Leading academics from The University of Yoxford are still debating exactly what it was that the Spice Girls really wanted. Some experts argue that the girls failed to ever reach any firm conclusion.

Instead, one of them was always insisting, 'I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want' while the other said, 'So tell me what you want, what you really really want', and then the first replied, 'I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want', while the other simply went on repeating her original request for the first to tell her what she wants, what she really really wants. And so on, ad infinitum.

Many believe that the official report will suggest that all they ever really, really wanted was a Premier League footballer, a dress from Prada and a 12-page spread in Hello magazine.