Origin of the Spicies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Geri Halliwell

Geri, the oldest member of the group, worked in various jobs, such as a cleaner, aerobics teacher and go-go dancer. While she was working as a dancer in Majorca, she was selected to host a Turkish game show called 'Let's Make a Deal', where she played the part of the lovely assistant, despite not being able to speak Turkish. Flying out to Istanbul to film the show at weekends took its toll on her health.

Answer: The Stage

'The Stage' is a weekly newspaper for the entertainment industry, with a special focus on theatre. Chris and Bob Herbert were a father-and-son team operating under the name of Heart Management, along with Chic Murphy, a businessman who had worked with the Three Degrees.

They placed an advert in the 'Stage' which read, "R U 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? RU streetwise, outgoing ambitious & dedicated?" Girls auditioning were told to bring sheet music or a backing cassette.

Answer: Mein Herr

'Mein Herr' is a song from the musical 'Cabaret', performed by Liza Minnelli in the film version. Victoria, like most of the other members, came from a performing arts background; she attended ballet classes as a child, and has spoken about how other kids at school bullied her for it. After leaving school, she got a part as a dancer in a show called 'Bertie', and was also a member of a group called Persuasion, who she said were 'terrible'.

As for the other answers, 'Greatest Love of All' was Melanie B's audition song, and 'I'm So Excited' was Melanie C's. 'It's Raining Men' was covered by Geri for 'Bridget Jones' Diary' after she left the Spice Girls.

Answer: Touch

The group that would become the Spice Girls were originally known as Touch. The ultimate line-up was selected after a round of auditions where the finalists had to get into groups and sing Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours'. After the group left Heart Management, Geri Halliwell came up with the name 'Spice', which was then changed to 'Spice Girls' because of an American gangsta rapper called Spice 1 - the group thought he probably wouldn't appreciate being confused with an English pop band! They also noticed that record company executives had a habit of referring to them as 'those Spice Girls'.

Answer: Lianne Morgan

The initial five members to be chosen were Lianne Morgan, Michelle Stephenson, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Adams. However, it was felt that Lianne looked too old to fit in with the group, so the management sent her a letter saying she would be better off going solo, and Melanie C replaced her. Melanie Laccohee was part of a group during one of the audition rounds which also featured Geri Halliwell. Suzanne Tinker had to drop out due to missing an audition because of a bomb scare, and Geri took her place at the last minute. Abigail Kis was brought in after Michelle left, but didn't stick around as both she and the management had reservations.

Answer: Her mother had breast cancer.

Michelle Stephenson did not get on with the other members of the group, as they felt she spent too much time sunbathing and not enough time practising; it was especially galling for Geri, who had never had dance lessons as a child - unlike the rest of the group - and had to work twice as hard as a result. Bob Herbert said that she wasn't fitting in, either on a personal or on a musical level. Stephenson, however, claimed she left the group because of her mother's illness, so she could spend time with her family. Victoria later claimed in her autobiography, 'Learning to Fly', that Michelle had 'less rhythm than a cement mixer', to which Stephenson responded, "Victoria was very much the high and mighty one."

Answer: Sylvia Young Theatre School

Other notable Sylvia Young alumni include British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, TV presenter Denise van Outen, and actors Nicholas Hoult and Nick Berry. Melanie Blatt and Nicole and Natalie Appleton, of rival girl group All Saints, were also pupils there. Pepi Lemer, a singing teacher who worked with the Spice Girls in the Touch days, had also taught Emma at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and recommended her to the Herberts as a potential replacement for Michelle Stephenson. Chris Herbert auditioned her and she met with the other girls, who liked her straight away. Emma later said in interviews that she was homesick, and the other girls helped her through it.

Answer: 5ive

The Herberts used the same audition process to put together a boy band in 1997, who later became 5ive. (One of the many auditionees was Russell Brand, who later went on to become a TV presenter.) However, because the Spice Girls had left him and his father and gone to look for new management, and there had been no contracts in place at the time, Chris Herbert made sure to get the members of 5ive to sign contracts early on in their development.

Answer: Xenomania

In Elliot Kennedy's case, the Spice Girls looked him up in the phone book and drove to his house in Sheffield! Chris Herbert had previously booked them in for a songwriting session, and they stayed at Kennedy's house as they had nowhere else to stay. One of the songs they wrote together, 'Love Thing', ended up on 'Spice'.

Stannard and Rowe attended a showcase at Nomis Studios in December 1994, and Stannard had previously met the Spice Girls at Nomis Studios while waiting to see Jason Donovan. He was intrigued when he saw Melanie B, and ended up hanging out with the group and reporting back to Rowe about them. Their contributions included '2 Become 1' and 'Wannabe'.

Absolute, a production team consisting of Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson, met the group in 1995. They were more accustomed to working with R'n'B groups, and Wilson described the Spice Girls as 'the cast of 'Grange Hill'.' Their contributions to 'Spice' included 'Last Time Lover' and 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

Answer: Raw Spice

'Raw Spice' was filmed by Neil Davies, and featured interviews with both Michelle Stephenson and the line-up we would come to know and love. It is a collection of footage from rehearsals, the group's first public performance, and interviews from when the group lived together in a house in Maidenhead, Kent.

It also features 'Take Me Away', one of the songs from the Touch era, which never made it onto any of the Spice Girls' albums. The group were not happy about the footage and tried to prevent it from being screened, and the resulting legal battle lasted four years.