Geri Halliwell says she was ‘quite grumpy’ to Christian Horner in their early relationship

Geri Halliwell has shared some insight into the early days of her relationship with her husband, Christian Horner.

The former Spice Girl married Horner, team president of the Red Bull Formula One team, in 2015. They welcomed a son together, Monty, two years later, when Halliwell was 44.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the “Mi Chico Latino” singer spoke about being a “late developer” when it came to seeking a deep romantic relationship, after finally feeling satisfied being herself in her late 30s.

“The brilliant thing was I was just, like: this is me,” she told journalist Dolly Alderton. “I’m not going to hold myself in in a Hervé Léger dress. I was quite grumpy to Christian, actually, and my sillier self came out. I was just real.”

Halliwell, 51, said that despite her needing to adjust to having Horner, 49, in her life after years of being single, it became a “really loving relationship”.

“We’re best friends,” she continued. “And I went to an all-girls school – I didn’t know I could be best friends with a man.”

Halliwell gave birth to her first child, daughter Bluebell, in 2006, following a relationship with filmmaker Sacha Gervasi. Halliwell and Gervasi’s relationship ended prior to Bluebell’s birth, and she raised her primarily as a single mother, with help from friends such as the late singer, George Michael.

Expressing her gratitude for her relationship with Horner, Halliwell also shared some encouragement for those in their thirties with hopes of finding love and having a family.

“To every 30-year-old I want to say: ‘Tranquilo’,” she noted, using the Spanish term for “calm”.

“You’ve got time. I’m so grateful that I had that time to evolve into who I am.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the “Look at Me” singer also looked back on the moment she found out her father had died when she was studying Hamlet.

“It suddenly woke me up to my own mortality,” she said. “Before a parent dies, there’s a person standing between you and your own death. It woke me up. I call it death energy.”

The next year, Halliwell joined the Spice Girls, with whom she had seven UK No 1 singles before her departure in May 1998.