Spice name coined at the gym
The band name 'Spice' was invented by Geri Halliwell during an evening gym session, inspired by the idea that the girls were all different, like spices.
Snapshot · The Louis Theroux Podcast
S8 EP5: Melanie C on Spiceworld, comparing muscles with Arnold Schwarzenegger and why she’ll always be a Spice Girl
Explore episode
Jul 6, 2026
Where this was said
Living Together, the Showcase and the Jump to Simon Fuller
At 14:01 · chapter starts 11:00
Manager Chris Herbert's decision to house all five girls together gets Melanie C's full endorsement: 'You don't know someone until you live with them.' The shared house created the real friendships and real feuds that gave the Spice Girls their crackle. But progress felt slow under the Herberts, so the band hatched a plan: push the managers into funding a showcase at Nomis Studios in Shepherd's Bush, use it to collect industry contacts, then walk. Melanie C remembers sitting with Mel B in Geri's battered Fiat Uno outside BMG while Geri went up to meet publisher Mark Fox — who 'took them under his wing' and pointed them towards Simon Fuller. The name 'Spice' came from Geri during a gym session, she says: the girls were all different flavours, like spices. [1] — Melanie C "Before they had a deal or a song anyone wanted, the Spice Girls pushed their managers to organise a showcase — then used it to collect indu…" 12:18
The Showcase Hustle: How the Spice Girls Sacked Their First Managers
Before they had a deal or a song anyone wanted, the Spice Girls pushed their managers to organise a showcase — then used it to collect industry contacts knowing they were already leaving. It was audacious, naive, and it worked: sitting outside BMG in Geri's battered Fiat Uno, they manoeuvred their way to Simon Fuller.
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