From BBC News
GINGER GETS SENSIBLE
By BBC News Online's Darryl Chamberlain
Geri Halliwell appears on BBC Breakfast News
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's sober-suited appearance on BBC TV's
Breakfast News programme on Tuesday morning marks the latest stage in
her departure from her pop star past.
Dressed simply in a black jacket and white blouse, and sporting
mimimal make-up, she appeared on the news programme to promote a new
breast cancer awareness scheme.
As well as starring in a series of commercials to be shown in British
cinemas urging women to be "breast aware", she visited London's
Holloway women's prison, and she is planning to take her campaign to
the United States in October.
Geri Halliwell appearing on BBC One's Breakfast News
Sensible and campaigning
But the sensible, campaigning Geri Halliwell is a far cry from the
raunchy Ginger Spice fans knew and loved just four months ago.
While the rest of the group came from drama and dance school
backgrounds, Geri's was as a game show hostess in Turkey. A brief
attempt to get into glamour modelling attracted huge press attention.
Rather than hide her past, Geri, 26, made it one of her virtues - and
along with the raunchy, figure-hugging outfits and lashings of
make-up, her larger-than-life character summed up the group's persona
for many fans.
Geri left Girl Power behind her in May during the Scandinavian leg of
their Spiceworld tour blaming "differences" between her and the rest
of the group.
Despite dire predictions, the foursome have continued to prosper,
while Geri's demure look is turning heads.
Views on spirtuality
Six weeks after she stepped out on her own, Geri's first solo
interview - with Marie Claire magazine - highlighted her views on
spirituality. She was also photographed in Los Angeles carrying the
Scientologists' Handbook, the guide for the sect's followers.
She said: "We only truly evolve as people when we dare to get to know
ourselves and remove the layers we hide behind."
She also left behind the layers of make-up in the set of photographs
accompanying the interview - revealing a fresh, almost wholesome, side
to her nature.
Helping sell off her old Spice outfits
So far, though, she hasn't announced any new projects since she left
the Spice Girls, despite a flurry of rumours linking her to Hollywood
movies and TV presenting in Britain. In September a sale of her Spicey
outfits raised over £100,000.
Now she is devoting more and more time to campaigning, inspired by a
breast cancer scare she had when she was 18.
"Nice to give something back"
Auctioning off the remnants of her past, she said: "It's really nice
to be able to give something back. I'm an energetic person, I'm a real
worker. If I can make a difference I'm happy to do that. This is one
of a few things I've got up my sleeve."
Geri's management refuse to talk about any of her plans for the
future, but pop journalist Rick Sky thinks she had better move quickly
with new work before it is too late.
"She's clearly going for a more mature, sophisticated look, as she
knows the teenage market is fickle and she wants something with
longevity.
"But she doesn't have a career right now. It's hardly a radical new
look, and she hasn't changed since she was first seen in LA.
"She would be better off lying low until something comes up. The
longer she is famous just for being in the Spice Girls, the harder
it's going to be for her," he said.