Emma Bunton was "angry" when Geri Horner left the Spice Girls.
Spice Girls
The 46-year-old singer stunned her bandmates when she quit the chart-topping band in May 1998 and Emma, Mel B, Mel C and Victoria Beckham were baffled by the decision because she never explained how much she was finding life difficult.
Asked how she felt when Geri quit, Emma said: "Angry. Geri just left. No words. No explanation. Nothing."
The 43-year-old singer didn't speak to her bandmate - who later explained she had struggled with fame and was battling depression and an eating disorder - for some time but they eventually reconnected over the phone and Emma understood a lot more.
She told Stella magazine: "You realise what it was like for the other person, how they saw it. It puts your friendship on a different deeper level."
After Geri's departure, the group refused to speak about her exit to anyone - not even Emma's idol.
She recalled: " was the biggest Madonna fan. I knew every word to every song and then she came to meet us backstage with her little girl Lourdes. It was just after Geri left the band in 1998 and all she was asking was why Geri had quit. She just wanted the gossip. There was no way we were going to say anything about Geri. None of us would ever break ranks on that - even for Madonna."
As the 'Wannabe' hitmakers - without Victoria - prepare for an upcoming reunion tour, they feel closer than ever.
Emma said: "We have our own WhatsApp group. It's a cliché, but we are sisters. There are times when we are together and we might be with our partners and one of us - usually Mel B - will shout to everyone else to get out of the room and we will have a group hug. It's a bizarre energy that feels incredibly private but unbelievably powerful - and it's still there."
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