The Spice Girls’ 90s manager, Simon Fuller, is reportedly set to face a huge £200million divorce payout and is allegedly the reason behind the group’s reunion.
Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Mel B and Mel C are reportedly set to reunite for their 30th anniversary and have been secretly planning a world tour, though Victoria Beckham will not join them.
It is believed that music mogul Simon, 64, has been in talks with the group to get back together with the hope of helping foot the huge bills of his split from his wife Natalie Swinston, according to The Sun.
The Pop Idol creator faces a battle over his £450 million fortune after his wife filed for divorce after months of Hollywood rumours that they were living separate lives.
A source told the publication: ‘This explains a lot about Simon’s desire to get the Spice Girls back together and on the road for a lucrative money-spinning tour.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Simon and the band for comment.
The Spice Girls 90s manager, Simon Fuller, is reportedly set to face a huge £200million divorce payout and is allegedly the reason behind the groups reunion (group pictured in 2008)
Geri Halliwell , Emma Bunton , Mel B and Mel C are reportedly set to reunite to mark their 30th anniversary as they have been secretly planning an upcoming world tour alongside Simon (pictured in 2007)
The news of his divorce came exactly three weeks before what would have been the longtime couple’s 17th wedding anniversary.
Natalie is reportedly demanding alimony and has requested the court to prevent her estranged husband from seeking spousal support.
She has requested joint legal custody of her and Simon’s three children – Grace, 14, and their twins, both nine.
But it is believed that the pair signed a prenuptial agreement ahead of their wedding at a Napa Valley vineyard.
She filed for divorce on grounds of ‘irreconcilable differences’ and gave the couple’s date of separation on Friday – the day she submitted her documents.
Sources say Briton Simon has been living apart from his wife amid claims that relations have been strained.
One told the Mail: ‘There has been much talk about Simon living on his own for a while. Things haven’t been great but now Natalie has taken their separation to the next level and said it’s time for divorce.
‘Simon’s life has changed dramatically from the days when he managed the Beckhams. He has retreated to a quieter life.’
It is believed that music mogul Simon, 64, has been in talks with the group to get back together with the hope to help foot the huge bills of his split from his wife Natalie Swinston
They tied the knot on May 30, 2009, in a ceremony attended by a fleet of showbiz names including the Spice Girls, Claudia Schiffer and Annie Lennox.
There was also a party at the Auberge du Soleil H๏τel in Napa Valley, where rooms cost £2,500 a night, and Mark Ronson’s DJ sister Samantha provided music.
They settled in Los Angeles but would regularly travel to Britain where his showbusiness agency XIX Entertainment had a base in Battersea, London.
In 2020, Simon sold the family’s seven-bedroom mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles, just six years after he bought it.
He and Natalie bought the 11,200 sq ft home for £18.7 million and carried out extensive renovation work, enabling them to sell it for £21.9 million.
Before that Simon lived in a five-bedroom home in Beverly Hills which he had bought as a bachelor in 2005.
The news comes at the same time as reports of a Spice Girls reunion tour, though fifth band member Victoria Beckham, 51, is believed to be out of the running to join the tour, with the foursome pushing ahead without her for now.
Geri and band manager Simon are reportedly in touch again which has moved reunion plans along after years of hints from various members that they would get back together.
A source told The Sun last month: ‘Nothing is yet confirmed but Geri and Simon are back in touch with a myriad of exciting ideas.’
A source told the publication: ‘This explains a lot about Simon’s desire to get the Spice Girls back together and on the road for a lucrative money-spinning tour.’
The Sun reported earlier this week that fifth band member Victoria Beckham, 51, however is ’90 per cent out of the running’, with the foursome pushing ahead without her (seen in 1996)
It was previously claimed that Victoria and her husband David have both fallen out with music mogul Simon.
Read More How the ‘proud’ Beckhams threw their star power behind Nicola Peltz to boost her ailing film career – but that support is now forgotten amid devastating family feud 
Indeed, relations between the trio became so bad that both Beckhams bought themselves out of their contracts with Simon’s XIX Entertainment in 2018.
The couple paid about £38 million for Simon’s 33 per cent stake in the former England footballer’s businesses, which gave David and Victoria full control of Beckham Brand Holdings, which includes a stake in US-based football club Inter Miami.
‘The Spice Girls working with Fuller means that there is absolutely no way that Victoria will be involved at all,’ one source close to the band told the Mail.
‘It feels rather bizarre that they would beg Victoria for years and years to join them and now they have him on board, they don’t approach her.
‘Maybe they thought there would be no point, as the Beckhams and Fuller no longer have a relationship, it’s over.
‘While the band need a manager, what this does mean is there is zero chance that Victoria will be involved. Clearly, they know that too so they didn’t even bother asking her now they are back with Fuller.’
Simon, who changed the face of TV with Pop Idol, the world’s most successful entertainment franchise, amᴀssed a £445 million fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020. He had a portfolio of properties in Europe and North and South America.
While much of his wealth was accumulated before they married, Natalie will be enтιтled to a share of his earnings afterwards.
Despite the strain of the pair travelling between the US and Britain for Simon’s work, his colleagues had regarded the marriage as ‘strong’ for many years.
