Geri Halliwell: I'm an anxious, worrying control freak

Ex-Spice Girl hates the fact she has to stay in control

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Geri Halliwell admits that she needs to chill out and stop fixating on work.

'I wish I could slow down a bit, trust more, love more,' she confides.

Ginger, 36, deplores her tendency to obsess and wishes she could enjoy herself without fretting. In her twenties, she just couldn't relax.

'I was so hard and uptight. If only I wasn't an anxious, worrying control freak.'

The singer, mum to Bluebell Madonna, 2, was touring with the Spice Girls until February but also managed to publish her first children’s book, Ugenia Lavender.

Caring for her daughter and also always having several projects on the go means she's often reduced to tears by exhaustion.

'I get overwhelmed and tired,' she tells The Guardian Weekend.

'Boredom, poverty and dark clouds depress me. I wish I was a psychic mind reader who could travel in time. I'd tell my young self, "Let go and live, Geri."'

'Childish' Geri Halliwell

Geri Halliwell says she loves toilet humour and doing accents.

The former Spice Girls star, who is now a children's author, admits her mischievous side leads her to play pranks on her friends.

She said: "A lot of people have said that I've got a voice that speaks to children. I think I've got a cultural naivety to me. I'm childish. I have a huge toilet humour - I love talking about poo and wee.

"I also like doing accents. One of my friends works in hotel reservations and I'll ring her up and complain about the suite - sometimes I get her."

Geri also said her childish side has also rubbed off on her two-year-old daughter, Bluebell.

She added to Britain's The Observer newspaper: "My daughter Bluebell is a cheeky monkey. What I like about her is she is really confident. She says to my mum - 'That's not lilac, that's purple.' "

Geri recently claimed she has "hung up her hotpants" and finished her career as a solo artist, to concentrate on other projects, particularly her writing.

Her first children's book 'Ugenia Lavender and the Burning Pants' is available now.

Geri brings a touch of Ginger Spice to town

A SPICE Girl turned children's author was in Poole on Saturday to sign copies of her latest book.

Geri Halliwell - who achieved worldwide fame as Ginger Spice - dropped into Tesco at Fleetsbridge to meet young fans and to launch Ugenia Lavender and the Terrible Tiger, the second in what will be a series of six books penned by the pop star.

Geri, fresh from appearing at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert in London on Friday evening, also presented £500 of Tesco vouchers to Lizzie Turner, 13, from Ensbury Park, Bournemouth, who won an online competition.

Spice Girls' fan Lizzie said she was "nervous" about meeting Geri.

Fans queued along the length of the upstairs section of the store and first in line was Daina Bessant, eight, of Canford Heath, who was with her mum, Lisa.

They waited almost four hours to meet the author and dozens of other fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the star, cameras at the ready.

advertisementDaina said: "I could read this book over and over again. They're very adventurous and they're very funny."

Mum Lisa added: "I've read the first one myself to see what the fuss is about and they're very good children's books."

The books follow the adventures of young girl Ugenia Lavender and the latest title sees her battle for the leading role in a class play and rescue a tiger from the circus.

Geri said: "To me, Ugenia sums up what being young is all about. She's streetwise, sassy, has a sense of humour, but most importantly has a real sense of right and wrong. I believe Ugenia can conquer the world, and I really hope people will love her as much as I do."

More books in the series are due for release later in the year.