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It has emerged that the unlikely suspect of Annie Lennox was an 'architect' in the early days of shaping the image and character of each of the Spice Girls.
Speaking in a new BBC Radio 2 documentary about his carer, former manager Simon Fuller revealed that the Eurythmics icon may not be best pleased with her role in the careers of Baby, Sporty, Ginger, Scary and Posh being made public knowledge.
"Each of the girls knew who they were and in their own way tried to represent it but it wasn't strong enough and probably the most significant thing that happened was when they met Annie Lennox," said Fuller. "I'm not sure this story has ever been told and Annie might not thank me for telling it. But I think we were flying to New York and I sort of brought up midway in the flight and said I've just signed this girl group. And Annie was very interested."
He continued: "She said 'I want to meet them'. Almost directly, she was the one who got them to be louder and more brash and more specific. So Emma who was the sweet cute blonde girl became Baby Spice. She just played it and hammed it up – none of these names actually existed, but Annie gave them focus."
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In the documentary, 'The Fuller Picture: The Simon Fuller story, the manager speaks about how although he went on to manage the likes of David Beckham, Andy Murray and Lewis Hamilton and make millions from the Pop Idol franchise, he knew his time with The Spice Girls came to an end for the right reasons - despite having huge plans for their future.
"It was kind of somewhat out of the blue," said Fuller of when he was sacked by the band. "My initial reaction was kind of shock, and, fine, OK, that's that. Sod them, I'm moving on. They're missing out on having the best manager in the world and that's the way it is, so I withdrew and stopped managing them instantly.
"I was the sergeant major, I was the parent, I ran everything. I was very controlling and I think that builds up some resentment. They were probably unhappy because they were missing their parents, missing their loved ones, they were tired, emotionally drained and I was probably the one responsible for that so we parted company."
Discussing his plans for a second Spice Girls movie and a third album, he added: "It would have set each of them up with solo careers beautifully. It wasn't to be. I completely understand how it happened."
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