With less than one month left of their triumphant comeback tour, the Spice Girls have announced they will call it a day at the end of the month.
"Sadly, the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments for Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C and Victoria," announced a spokesman for the group.
Mels B and C are both believed to want to return to their normal routines. Scary Spice Melanie Brown is said to be missing family life with her two young daughters - Pheonix Chi, 8, and eight-months-old Angel - and new husband Stephen Belafonte.
The toe-tapping star has also been flooded with offers of work in the US following her outstanding success on the reality TV show Dancing With The Stars.
Meanwhile, Melanie Chisholm wants to focus on her successful solo career. Sporty has hit the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and recently released her fourth album called This Time.
"We've had such an amazing time over the last three months," the girls told fans on their website. "We want to thank everyone who came to see us. It was all so mad the first time round, so we've really been able to appreciate it properly this time."
The girls have performed to rave reviews in front of sell-out audiences in the US, Canada, the UK, Spain and Europe.
And while the news will be devastating for the hundreds of thousands of Spice fans, there was hope that perhaps this was not goodbye, but only au revoir to girl power.
"We all have other commitments in our lives now but who knows what will happen next," their statement finished.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
