It doesn’t sound like we will be having the five Spice Girls back in the same room together in the foreseeable future.
From what my sources say the bubbling feud between Victoria Beckham and Melanie Brown shows no sign of ending anytime soon and it’s causing a big divide between my favourite girl group.
So much so that the pair have not spoken for two YEARS and are not planning on reacquainting themselves with each other any time soon.
My Spice source tells me the five some were due to appear at the opening night of Viva Forever – the Spice Girl’s musical – but as things currently stand there’s ZERO chance of that happening.
“Victoria and Mel have not spoken for so long and have had no contact,” says the source. “For them to kiss and make up is going to be a miracle.
“None of the girls are contracted to appear at the launch – but they wanted too initially. Melanie C, Emma and Geri have been heavily involved throughout the process of making the show. Victoria’s been in touch with the show’s producer Judy Craymer on the phone but both her and Mel B have more been kept in the loop because they’re just too busy to get involved.
“Both girls have no love for each other at the minute.”
It’s no surprise with Victoria’s fashion empire taking over her life and Mel presenting Dancing with the Stars and being a judge on X Factor in Australia these days.
The pair initially fell out when VB refused to lend a dress from her up-market collection to Mel for her to wear on her reality show in the States and since then have barely ushered a word to each other – even tweeting the rest of the band without including each other.
And I can reveal fans of the band – who have sold 55 million records worldwide – may have to wait quite a while longer for the premiere of the musical on the West End – because they can’t find a theatre large enough to house it.
“There are actually only three theatre’s large enough to house the production in London,” says my mole. “And none of those productions are closing anytime soon. And they can’t cast the show until the theatre is in place. So instead of casting taking place now it’s likely it won’t happen until July or August. Which means the show won’t open until possibly as late as March or April next year.”
But on the plus side Viva Forever is shaping up very well indeed. Work shops have gone down a storm, the songs have been turned into a story that everyone is thrilled with and Jennifer Saunders is thrilled the script has gone down so well. They think they have a huge hit on their hands.”
Let’s just hope we also have five ladies hand in hand on that red carpet – after all….didn’t they say “Friendship never ends”.

So the dream of a Spice Girls reunion still isn’t over according to Geri Halliwell. She revealed to me this week that the band are still mulling it over – but it has to be all five of them and there’s a lot of factors to take into account for it to work.
Promoting her new Union Jack inspired collection with Next Geri told me: “We did get the offer and it is exciting. Obviously we are a band and it’s a collective decision that has to be made as a band. We need to all be in the same place with it and we have to take into account all of our lives. We wouldn’t do it without all five of us. I do feel it’s an incredible honour and privilege. I can’t think of anything else I’d love to do – perform at Buckingham Palace for the Queen. It doesn’t get bigger than that.”
Ginger also tells me if the Girls do not reform for the Jubilee, the line-up of which is being announced on Tuesday by Gary Barlow, then we will definitely have them all back together for the Viva Forever Spice Musical at the end of the year. “There’s always one more performance,” she said. “Was there ever an end? For me I’ve always embraced the Spice Girl in me. I’ve never wanted to shift the Spice Girl in me. Musically I’ve never tried to be anything else but that. I will always be a Spice Girl. If we don’t do the Jubilee then we will be together for the musical.”

But can Victoria Beckham be persuaded to join the rest of the girls? That’s the question….

This week Mel B set the cat among the pigeon’s on Aussie TV by mentioning there was an offer on the table for the Spice Girls to reform once again for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert.
Being a huge Spice Girls fan I wanted to get to the bottom of the rumours.
So here goes…..it turns out Gary Barlow – who’s organising the gig – HAS asked the girls to perform. But as things currently stand it is NOT going to happen because Victoria Beckham doesn’t want to be a part of it.
All the other girls – Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton – are up for it. But Posh can’t seem to be persuaded. A source tells me: “All the girls are desperate for some Spice action except Posh who is simply too busy – she loves the girls and wants to support them and the fans but doesn’t see how she has the time when her fashion business is so successful.
“She has a very small team that she is hands on with all day, every day. Every spare minute she has is spent with her children and she just doesn’t have the time.”
So here I write to Victoria herself on behalf of the millions of Spice fans around the world.

Dear VB,
Pleeeeeeease, rethink your decision. The fans are wanting more from the Spice Girls and you can’t be the one to let the side down. You enjoyed every minute last time you reformed and your boys would love to see you on stage again.
You’ll have a global audience of 1 billion watching you (surely great PR for the clothes) and you secretly would love to be up there dancing again.
This concert is part of British history and you can’t let this opportunity pass you by. If needs be I’ll come and be your PA and organise your schedule. It’s definitely possible – so take the plunge.
Lots of love, Dean x

Take That’s Gary is set to reveal the first list of performers this week – let’s hope VB changes her mind.

Write to Victoria herself on Twitter at @VictoriaBeckham and use the hashtag #DeansSpiceCampaign to try and persuade her to change her mind!

Spice Girl Melanie C is finally back with the first single from her eagerly awaited album The Sea. Think About It is a great return to form and is being hailed a victory by all including Popjustice – that made it one of it’s single’s of the week this week. As you can see Mel is looking hot as hell in new shots to promote the album. And it’s no surprise she’s in great shape – Mel will be alongside me as we compete in the Virgin Active London Triathlon next Saturday! The training has been exhausting – but worth it to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support….

Sponsor me here!

Sometimes you just need to blow your own trumpet – so I’m going to start by saying my party ROCKED!
Celebs were rammed into London’s swanky Cuckoo Club to celebrate two years of my showbiz column at the Sunday Mirror. And what a night full of surprises it was.
Not only did we all raise £1800 for my chosen charity Macmillan Cancer Support we also partied the night away to performances by Spice Girl Melanie C and my new favourite singer Clare Maguire. Not only that I performed with Melanie on the encore and we belted out When You’re Gone – I was her Bryan Adams for the performance!

Above: Melanie C rocks out…..

Jordan turned up with boyfriend Leandro Penna (above). They both drank water and didn’t touch a drop of alcohol before heading off for a late night bite at The Ivy. Katie told me: “I’m sorry I’m being so well behaved tonight but I’m trying to be good. I don’t want to come tumbling out of here! I’ll leave that to you tonight.”

Matt and Emma Willis (above) popped by to raise a glass of bubbles, Arlene Phillips swung by with her daughter Alana and fellow So You Think You Can dance judge Sisqo, Capital FM DJ Lisa Snowdon took me for a cocktail ahead of the bash, Donna Air and Caroline Flack were nattering away in a corner, despite being ill Beverley Knight came by to give me a squeeze, the Blue boys were raring to go when they pitched up, top chef Gizzi Erskine was busting out the moves and top model Poppy Delevingne raved at the front during my stage debut with Melanie.
Tunes were span by drag queen extraordinaire DJ Lady Lloyd and my old mucker Lisa Moorish and the 250 strong crowd were treated to amazing Ciroc vodka and Hoxton gin cocktails.
One celeb managed to go to extraordinary lengths to make it to my bash. Comedian James Corden came stage from the stage at the National Theatre to be there and was mortified to find out his car had been towed during the party! The next morning he told me: “That was such a nightmare. Never good leaving a party late at night and having to go to the pound to collect your car.” That’s what you call proper party dedication!
But it wasn’t just the stars that turned out that impressed me – Spice Girls Geri Halliwell and Mel B both sent me messages of support. Geri posted a card of a cricket pitch streaker leaping above a wicket and Mel wrote: “I’m so sorry I can’t be there tonight – I’m in Australia for X Factor and that’s just as well because you wouldn’t be able to fit my pregnant ass on any seat or couch right now.”
Overall the night was a huge success and we raised a lot of money for charity – thanks to everyone that came to help me celebrate and I had better start planning the 3rd anniversary….it’s going to take some real beating to out do this amazing night!

The good news is my two year column anniversary bash at raised £1800 for Macmillan Cancer Support – a charity close to my heart. The likes of Caroline Flack, Donna Air (both above with me), Arlene Phillips, Blue and Lisa Snowdon all donated on the door. Special thanks go out to DJ Lady Lloyd and the wonderful Lisa Moorish for spinning the tunes. And biggup to the wonderful team at Cuckoo Club – special thanks to Pearl!

Above: The wonderful Clare Maguire belts out Shield and the Sword.

Above: New X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos is one of the most grounded stars I’ve met of late. And she’ll be big news when she officially signs for X Factor as the new judge.  And it sounds like she’s preparing for her super stardom too – she’s put herself on a party ban (except mine). She told me: “I’m not going out anymore as I don’t want to be pictured falling out of clubs drunk. It’s not nice. So if I’m going to get drunk I’ll do it in the comfort of my own home.”
Tulisa was keeping her lips tightly sealed about bagging the X Factor judging role but she did say: “Of
course I’m thrilled. It will be amazing to do it, it really would, so fingers crossed.”

Above: Arlene Phillips and Sisqo were on form. Poor So You Think You Can Dance judge Arlene didn’t realise the cocktails were alcoholic! Whoopsy!

Above: My girls Lizzie Cundy and Alex Best strike a pose….

Two of my favourite new girlbands Wonderland (above) and Parade met up at the bash and got chin wagging at the bar. Not long later, all ten girls were in the ladies, doing their make up and chatting together. Parade’s Bianca said: “Wonderland are great girls, we were chatting away to them. We got on so well that we’ve invited them over for a girlie night at our house. We’ll get some cheesy flicks, some cocktails and have a great night in.” Sounds like a fun night!

Pics with thanks to: Steve Bainbridge

Since I broke the story about the Spice Girls bid to play at the 2012 Olympics I thought I’d give you an update on where we stand. So far Melanie C, Melanie B and Emma Bunton are  up for it. Victoria Beckham doesn’t seem that bothered. But Geri Halliwell tells me she’s working on persuading her. “I haven’t discussed the Olympics that much,” she told me as she launched her Next swimwear range this week. “But it would be an amazing privilege to represent our country in 2012. So we will discuss it with Victoria and will see what she thinks.”
Ginger Spice looks mighty fine in the campaign shots for the range – but she wasn’t brave enough to model the bikinis at the launch at The Savoy this week. She laughed: “I didn’t have time to work out at all for the campaign so if I look good then it’s not down to working out. I’m a mum and I stuff chocolate like everyone else. I mean, if I know you’ve got to get into a bikini then I might go for a power walk but I just don’t have the time these days to exercise like I used to.”
I finally asked her is she’d step up to the mark as a permanent X Factor judge if the rumours of Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole departing for the States are true. She said: “You’re going to have to wait and see. I think Simon Cowell would be the first to know the answer to that.” Over to you Simon….

Geri on her new range for Next: “I think in anything you do there’s pressure. But I’m not pitched up against Victoria on this one. I’m trying to keep the focus on my range and the fact it’s about giving women confidence. All I did was pick stuff and design stuff that I liked. I designed it around my boobs, if I’m honest. I tested it on myself. The bando is so I don’t have strap marks. I couldn’t find a bando with the right lift for boobs. If women have boobs they need to be kept up. Value for money is important too. You can buy either the bottoms or the tops  – so if you’re an apple or a pear you can find one that works. I always struggled finding a bikini that would fit me. Women must have the same problems so this range is for the people.”

Hello Melanie – not spoken to you for a while! How goes it?
I feel like I’m in your life a lot. Because I follow you on twitter. I was so reluctant to tweet but then when I started doing it I got into it and thought it was fun and now I’m bored of it!
I think I’ll get into it when I’ve got something to say. At the moment I’m really getting my head down and I’m working on writing and recording. When I’m travelling and doing my promo I’ll have more to talk about. When I’m in promo I’ll have far more time. Sitting in the back of cars and all that shit.

Who do you love following most?
I’m enjoying following Mel B – she’s mad and bonkers and what’s really nice about twitter is it’s bringing us Spice Girls together more. Not as often as we like. Twitter is essentially keeping us in touch. Victoria doesn’t tweet that much, Emma goes through her phases and Melanie is always tweeting. It’s kinda like you’re still in each other’s lives.

Mel B has turned into Sporty Spice these days with all her exercising! It’s like a role reversal!
Are you saying I’m Scary Spice now? She’s pretty hardcore. The thing is with Mel is she’s always had a great physique but she’s never been into the gym. Since she’s been in LA the lifestyle and the health aspect seems to have gotten her into her exercise. All the lovely weather works wonders for you.

You’re appearing at Body and Soul’s Voicestorm Concert – tell me about it. It’s been a while since you performed solo stuff!
I did a brief appearance at the Jazz Festival up north recently but it was low key. But for me I’m so excited to be doing this gig for such a fantastic charity. In memory of Anita Roddick – it’s something amazing to be able to celebrate her life and raise money for the charity too. It’s also going to be amazing to play the Roundhouse – I’ve never played there before. It’s an incredible venue and Annie Lennox is headlining. Such a lovely lady. I’ve loved her music for a long time. She’s eloquent and lovely and one of those legends that in her presence you feel very comfortable.

And what will we be performing?
I’m going to sing some Melanie C songs and some covers. I’m working on a new pop record, as you all know. And I’ve also been recording some musical theatre songs too. I’m not sure whether they’;ll end up being released yet. I went to performing art college and after appearing in Blood Brothers it seemed like a very good opportunity to get some of my favourite songs together.
For the show I’m going to do I Ain’t Got No from Hair and I’m also covering Dusty Springfield’s I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. I’m quite nervous about it all because it’s not my usual stuff. I’ll also do some of my hits. I’m going to bring on a guest to do When You’re Gone – James Walsh from Starsailor. He’s a really really lovely guy with a fantastic voice.

And how is the work on the fifth Melanie Chisholm solo record going so far?
I’m just being really adventurous. There’s ideas for rocky stuff, dance stuff, more acoustic stuff and at the moment I’m working with loads of new people and writing loads of songs. I need to see how it all goes and find out what kind of album I want to make. I think eclectic is the style right now. A bit of everything. That’s actually how Northern Star began so it would be nice to recapture that feeling of lots of styles but coming together. There are no collaborations so far but it’s very early days. I’m in the writing stages now. I’m hoping for a single around summer time and an album around Autumn. I want it to be the best album of my career and it’ll be on Red Girl again.

How’s motherhood now – Scarlet’s 19-months old and it has gone so quick!
Scarlet’s incredible. It’s gone very quick. She’s walking, she’s saying a lot and she’s a proper little character. She’s started singing too – so that is very good fun.

Are you watching this years X Factor?
I am indeed. Saturday night was the first night I saw everyone perform. I always liked Katie – I think she’s really interesting. I wasn’t sure how she actually ended up in the bottom two. She seems to have taken a lot of stick.
The good thing about music right now with artists like Lady Gaga is that the pop world is being more creative visually. I think if things look genuine and sincere with Katie then it will work.
I love Cher Lloyd too. To me I think she has the X Factor. Her vocals were a little bit shaky but hey she’s so young.  The nerves must be so intense and to get up on the hugest platform on British TV to perform is a big deal. So much of it is charisma. For me Cher Lloyd has that charisma and I think she’ll go far. My favourite performance of the night was Aiden performing Mad World last week. It was so believable and genuine.

Would you have gone on a show like that?
I’m sure I would have gone on a show like that. I auditioned for a girl band at 13 first of all. I would have gone on the X Factor. I think it’s good that people have a good idea of what these shows are nowadays. I used to be quite negative about these shows but I’ve changed my mind. Now people know what they are in for. There are no shocks.

Do you think the Spice Girls could ever be emulated successfully nowadays?
I’m not sure – we were of a moment. There are so many girl bands in development right now. I went along to see one recently. They’re called Parade. There manager is John Giddings. They are cute, there’s five of them and they have a great energy. They are based on the Spice Girls and Gwen Stefani. They’ve got more attitude and they’re not all glamour. They can sing and dance. But they’ve got a personality.

How is everything coming along for the Spice Girls musical too?
It’s all in development right now. We’ve seen the storylines, the characters, the songs that are going to be used. We know where it’s at at the moment and we’re so excited to have Jennifer Saunders on board. She’s an incredible writer and we have history with her from Spiceworld so we trust her ideas.
In the new year we’ll be looking at work shopping and casting. I think at this stage Jennifer and Judy are working hard on the storylines and we feel those ladies are well within their rights to get on with that.
When it comes to the music we’ll be a lot more involved. A lot of the people that we worked with originally – like Richard Stannard – will be involved creatively. And Judy wants to keep us involved all along the way. We’re not going to be there as creative directors but we’re definitely going to be there in the auditioning process in the different roles. We just can’t wait for our songs to be performed on stage every night of the week. All five of us want it to be fantastic and for those songs to live on.

And what about the idea of one final ‘hurrah’ of the Spice Girls – performing at the Olympics ceremony in 2012?
We don’t know anything about it as yet but I’m up for it. It’s a wonderful idea and I think all five of us would be very proud indeed. Let’s petition for it and make it happen.

Tickets are currently on sale at www.voicestorm.org and www.roundhouse.org priced at £40 for standing and £100 for VIP seating. Money raised from the event will go to the help and support of children, young people and families living with or closely affected by HIV. For more information on the concert please see www.voicestorm.org and for a further insight into Body & Soul please see www.bodyandsoulcharity.org