The following article contains brief references to eating disorders.
The Spice Girls burst onto the pop landscape in the mid-’90s with a mission to spice up our lives.
Over the years, she has undergone numerous transformations and wardrobe clear-outs.
The youngest of three children, Horner was raised in extreme poverty.
“I looked like a scraggy kid at the best of times,” she reflected toThe People.
Horner had a difficult childhood.
I made my own school lunch, which was always crap compared to everyone else’s.
I used to be jealous of kids whose mothers had slipped special treats into their school bags."
But through all the turmoil, she was determined to make something of herself.
Speaking toGrazia, she explained that she tried to put a unique spin on her conservative school uniform.
“The lioness that I am, I feel happiest when I can be myself.”
“That’s my education.
They said, ‘You’re allowed to try.
No matter where you’re from, you’re allowed to give it a go.'”
In 1994, she was intrigued by a newspaper ad looking for girls to join a new band.
Subsequently, she was among 400 young women who auditioned for the Spice Girls.
From the outset, she was determined to make it.
“I chased that rainbow,” she toldRolling Stone.
Her ambition paid off.
Though she had little experience, her charisma won over talent manager Chris Herbert.
And thus,Ginger Spice was born.
With the release of the Spice Girls’ debut single “Wannabe,” which went to No.
1 in the U.K. in 1996, the 23-year-old catapulted to stardom.
Thatcher was the first Spice Girl, the pioneer of our ideology girl power."
“I always think fashion is a language,” she explained.
“It’s the only time you have control.”
“Take gender fluidity, which is really on the table at the moment,” she explained.
They teach me that."
In 1997, she infamouslypinched King Charles III’s bottom, something she boasted about in subsequent interviews.
“Grabbing his bottom, I was being a cheeky little girl,” she toldRolling Stone.
“I was thinking, ‘God, that’s the prince.'”
Typified by her brassy, larger than life persona, Horner tweaked her look in 1998.
It’s really an Elizabethan look, which I always loved.
The Tudorism, the Basque, you know that powdered white, the bright red lips, pearls.
It’s timeless."
Appearing in the documentary"Giving You Everything,“Horner confessed that she felt unappreciated by her bandmates.
“I definitely felt very redundant,” she reflected.
Eventually, Horner is seen laying in the coffin, only to wake up and giggle.
But the symbolism was more tongue in cheek than nail in the coffin.
“I wasn’t really killing her off,” Horner explained toMetro Weekly.
“At that time, everyone was saying, ‘Is Ginger dead?’
So I was just laughing at that aspect.”
“I was walking down the street and I saw Versace,” she recalled to Vogue.
She’s a supermodel.
5 on the U.K. album charts.
Accordingly, the 28-year-old showcased a flaxen bob and glowing tan at events promoting her music.
Speaking toThe Guardianin 2016, she acknowledged that achieving fame at such a young age stunted her emotional growth.
As such, she spent her 20s swearing off relationships.
“I used to say that I didn’t want a relationship because it steals your energy.
“The humility to go: Actually, I don’t know the answers.”
“I’m shedding skin all the time,” she told The Independent in 2005.
And just as her appearance underwent a transformation, so did her life.
In May 2006, she gave birth to her daughter, Bluebell.
Her baby daddy is filmmaker Sacha Gervasi.
However, she and Gervasi did not remain an item.
The pair reportedly had a tumultuous relationship, and Horner chose to raise her daughter as a single mom.
Motherhood shaped her experiences when she embarked on female-focused charity work in the late 2000s.
In 2007, she campaigned for lower maternal mortality rates across the globe.
“The fact is that people talk about childbirth in the poorest countries,” she toldThe Guardian.
“But it’s only when you see these places that you realize what it means.
I went to Zambia last year, and what I saw there was unbelievable.”
Despite her activism, Horner admitted that she’s uncomfortable being labeled a feminist.
“It’s very unglamorous,” she claimed.
“I’d like to see it rebranded.”
“Writing is my greatest joy,” she toldThe Guardian.
“For me, it’s all-consuming.
I get to play God, in total control: Will they live or die?
Feel pain or fall in love?
I can immerse myself entirely.”
“I feel like I’ve hung up my hot pants now,” she quipped toThe Guardian.
In a generally positive review,The Guardianpraised the book’s fun and lighthearted tone.
The multitalented star’s wardrobe also became increasingly sophisticated, with a chic black two-piece set.
Accordingly, she utilized her keen sartorial eye by branching out into fashion design that year.
“The seams were coming undone, but I did design it!
I’ve always designed my own clothes from a very young age.
It was a very natural thing for me.”
“We all deserve to look fantastic whatever our shape and size,” she declared toThe Guardian.
“I just want to give women confidence.”
Having refused to chase eternal youth, Horner embraces aging naturally.
“I’m not trying to be 21,” she told Scary Mommy.
“Because that’s a betrayal in itself.
I think we can learn from the East.
They celebrate the older you get.
It’s like, wow, you made it fantastic.”
Opening up toThe Mirrorthe previous year, she discussed her past struggles with an eating disorder.
As such, she said that she was finally happy with her appearance.
“I have been slimmer and I have been bigger.
… [T]here are days where I can start being critical,” she elaborated.
“But generally, I am grateful for how I look.
I try and let go of my neuroses.”
Subsequently, she has been using her fame for good, rallying against airbrushed images and unrealistic beauty standards.
“‘You gotta have the perfect body!
The perfect life!’
The message I have a go at give to anyone in my life is that you’re enough.
It’s OK. You’re enough.”
If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available.
The pair welcomed their son, Montague George Hector Horner, in 2017.
Reaching her 40s led to some major changes for the star, who felt liberated by the aging process.
“Your 30s are not easy because you’re not the ingenue anymore,” she explained.
“There’s so much pressure to achieve: get the partner, get the success.
“It’s just life, isn’t it?”
she mused to Scary Mommy.
“We all grow and evolve like the seasons.
“I love the old black and white movies …
If in doubt, go black: It’s so simple and so timeless,” she explained.
At 51, Horner appears to favor neutral tones and old money fits.
“[A]s you get older, you want to keep it simple,” Horner explained.
Befitting her aesthetic, she enjoys a country lifestyle with her husband and children.
“I got advice, don’t go near Anne Boleyn.
She’s too contentious …
