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Hi Twin Flames listeners, I'm Anna. And

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I'm Emily. And we're quickly dropping in

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to tell you about our podcast that

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we think you'll love. It's called Terribly

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Famous and it tells the stories of

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our favourite celebrities from their perspective. Each

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season we show you what it's really

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like being mega super famous by taking

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you inside the life of a British

0:20

icon. From velvet voiced superstar Adele to

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runway icon Naomi Campbell. We walk you

0:25

through their glittering highs and eyebrow raising

0:27

lows and ask, is fame and fortune

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worth it? We're about to play you a

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clip from our season on Victoria Beckham. If you

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like what you hear, make sure to search

0:36

and follow Terribly Famous wherever you get your

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podcasts. It's April 1995, a

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year since the girls first got together. 21

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year old Victoria wraps her fingers tightly around

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the steering wheel of her Renault Clio. She's

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in a secret location on the outskirts of

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London and ready to go. The

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girls have this planned to the last

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detail. This is

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a heist. The girls have been

1:01

working hard on new material, writing songs, getting

1:03

to know each other and loving it. But

1:06

they've been getting fed up with their managers Bob and

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Chris. They don't seem to listen to what

1:10

the girls want. So they have

1:12

decided to break away before signing

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a contract. There's just one

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problem. They need to get hold

1:18

of all the songs they've written and Bob and

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Chris keep the tape under lock and key. This

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really is a heist. I love a heist. Jerry

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has gone to Maidenhead to swipe the tape

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while the two Mel's create a diversion. Victoria

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and Emma are all at the studios in

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Woking, picking up the rest of their stuff.

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I love this. This is like a commuter

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belt. A commuter belt. Ocean's

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11. Yeah, this is just slightly more

1:40

budget. Yeah, it's very suburban. Yeah. They're

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a gang now. Victoria loves being part

1:45

of it and she loves that her

1:47

gang, like her, want to be in

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the driving seat. They know what they

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want. Stop

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it. They know what

1:55

they want. What they need to do

1:57

to succeed. But Bob and Chris won't

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listen. They're adamant the girls

2:01

should all wear the same clothes, and everyone

2:03

keeps saying there should be a lead singer.

2:06

What guys? No! Exactly right!

2:08

That is the opposite of the

2:10

Spice Girls basically. Bob and Chris

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also think the band should be

2:14

called Touch. Um, sorry.

2:16

I'm so sorry. What? Don't

2:19

worry, the girls aren't having it. Victoria

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checks the rearview mirror, cranes her neck to

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look up at the building beside her. It's

2:26

been ages since Emma went inside what's taking her

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so long. She starts to

2:30

wonder if this whole plan is a good idea. It

2:33

better work. They could get into a lot

2:35

of trouble if it doesn't. But

2:37

the others seem so fearless. She

2:40

grips the wheel a little tighter. Just

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then, Emma comes running out of

2:45

the building, carrying two bags of

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socks. Go, go, go! She shows.

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Oh my God, I love it! They're getting away with

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the loot, Emily! This is a fixed

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spot, Jerry's car, waiting for them, exactly

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as planned. On a roundabout just off

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the M4 motorway, Jerry gets out, brandishing

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a tape. Victoria and Emma let out

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a root. They've done it. They're free.

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They hug as cars rush by. Victoria

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feels invincible now. Like she

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can do anything, say anything.

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She feels her old reserve slipping away,

3:18

and it's exhilarating. Now

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they need a new manager. But this

3:23

time, they'll be the ones doing the

3:25

auditioning. In the end,

3:27

they choose a guy called Simon Fuller. Oh

3:29

yeah, yeah. We've all heard of him. The

3:32

acts he's worked with are impressive. Annie

3:35

Lennox from Eurythmics and legendary

3:37

songwriter Kathy Dennis. But

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that's not what impresses Victoria most. She

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likes how he listens, really listens to what

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they have to say, and he takes them

3:46

seriously. He promises them they'll

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make it, and he promises them they'll be

3:50

stars. Yeah, yeah, but they already know

3:52

that. Of course they

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do. But now, they've found someone who

3:57

believes it too. Signing

4:00

with Simon Fuller was a great move. Within

4:02

a year, they've got a record deal and

4:04

filmed their first music video, Wannabe. Oh, the

4:06

one when they're on the steps in the

4:08

hotel. That is iconic. It is, and it's

4:10

St Pancras in London, that hotel. And I

4:12

went there with my mum, and I thought,

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I've been here before, mum. I've definitely stayed

4:17

here before. No, it was just the music

4:19

video. And that

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video almost didn't happen because

4:23

when the record company execs see it, they're

4:26

horrified. It's too dark, too scrappy.

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And worst of all, wait for it. You

4:31

can see Mel B's nips. What?

4:33

Oh, no, no nips. But the

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girls won, and the video was

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massive. Huge. I mean, I think

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it's really easy to forget how

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revolutionary the Spice Girls were. Yes. Because

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they were shouting about feminism, girl power.

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They came from a diverse range

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of backgrounds. Yeah. And

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they didn't have a lead singer. And they

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were genuine friends on top of that. And

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I honestly think that's a key part of

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their success. Yeah, that was lucky. It's

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July 1996. Victoria

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can't stop grinning as she tiptoes across

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the dark stage. She's excited.

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All the girls are. They're about to

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perform their hit single, Wannabe, on a

5:14

TV show. It's

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top of the pop. From the back of the

5:19

stage, Victoria can see the TV cameras glinting in

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front of her. The famous logo on the wall.

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That was my Friday night, every Friday night, top

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of the pop. Oh, it was huge. So big.

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The music starts. Da, da,

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da, da, da, da, da, da, da,

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da. No, no,

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do the whole thing, please. Victoria

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can see the others going crazy. Emma

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flings her arm around Mel B as she

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raps. Mel C busts out a backflip

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while Jerry gets up close and personal

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with the camera. They're at

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the top of their game because this is

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what they've all dreamed of. And Victoria, Victoria's

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feeling well, a

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little left out. She doesn't have a life.

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of her own to sing. She was away

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to wedding the day the other girls finished writing

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wannabe. By the time they came

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to record it all the parts had been divided

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up already. Each girl

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took her interns to sing a line

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in the verses except Victoria. She

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was there to record backing vocals, no line of

6:17

her own. She was really upset. I would be

6:19

so upset Emily if you did that to me

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but if I wrote a sketch show and said sorry

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you were away. So I forgot you can

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be on the line? This

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kind of thing is a sore spot for Victoria. She

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didn't really have close friends until she met the

6:33

Spice Girls. At school she was

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bullied for her spots, her playground dance

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routines and her background. She was the

6:40

only one whose dad drove a Rolls Royce.

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Oh yeah I can really relate to this

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because my mum used to drop me to

6:46

school in a mini metro with a go

6:48

faster stripe on the side that said studio

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two. So you can relate. Very like a

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Rolls Royce. You name it she was teased

6:54

about it. Feeling left

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out is something that goes way back. Being

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with the girls gives Victoria confidence but

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her old insecurities are never that far

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away and now on stage

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at top of the pops she's hitting all

7:08

the right moves and chiming in on the

7:10

chorus. She knows she looks

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amazing but she doesn't feel amazing. She

7:15

feels like a gooseberry standing at the

7:17

back without a solo bit of her

7:19

own. Then it hits

7:21

her. There's a lot more to pop stardom

7:23

than just singing. It's

7:26

99% pointing. Victoria throws

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one leg to the side, pulls her

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head back and pouts as she points at

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the camera. You know, you've got a lot

7:35

to see now. Yep. The point, the pout,

7:37

the pose. It makes up for not singing.

7:39

I mean it really does. You couldn't miss

7:42

her. That whole look is

7:44

fire. The poker straight bob, the heels,

7:46

the little black dress. Am I right

7:48

in thinking it was a Gucci? Aha.

7:50

Ding ding. Lots of people think that

7:52

that was Gucci. Actually she bought it

7:54

in Miss Selfridge. The Gucci of the

7:57

high street. Not

8:02

long after that, Victoria's dubbed Posh by

8:04

a magazine editor. She's not

8:06

sure she likes the nickname, but she knows a good

8:08

brand when she sees one. And

8:10

that image, that's all her, right from

8:13

the start. Wannabe stays

8:15

at number one for seven weeks. You

8:18

can't put on the radio without hearing it.

8:20

It's everywhere. It was just

8:22

the soundtrack of my childhood. It is

8:24

manic. Victoria and the

8:26

rest of the girls start getting recognised wherever they

8:28

go. And Wannabe breaks records for a debut single.

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It's not just big in the UK. It

8:35

ends up going to number one in more than

8:37

30 countries. But that

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doesn't stop some people saying the Spice

8:41

Girls are one-hit wonders.