Geri Halliwell faces fresh torment tonight after WhatsApp texts and photos said to have been exchanged between her F1 husband Christian Horner to a female employee are leaked.
The stream of messages, which included 79 screenshots, comes just a day after the Spice Girl told friends she was ‘relieved and elated’ that her husband of nine years had been cleared of a Red Bull investigation.
Horner had been placed at the centre of an internal probe following an accusation he had acted inappropriately.
Despite being ‘devastated’ when the allegations first came to light, the popstar, 51, continued to stand by her husband, who stringently denied the claims.
Last night friends said she was revealed that her ‘rock solid’ support of her husband had been rewarded, with Horner being cleared of any wrong doing.
The Englishman, who was cleared of ‘coercive behavior’ by Red Bull’s Salzburg-based parent company, was free to stay on as team principal of the world-championship winning team on a salary of £8million a year.
Just over 24 hours later, however, the couple have been flung back into the spotlight after the string of exchanges were emailed to key figures in sport by an anonymous sender just days before the Grand Prix in the Middle East is due to start.
The leak, containing hundreds of WhatsApp messages, was sent to FIA president Mohammad Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali. All the team principals were copied in, along with star driver Max Verstappen’s father Jos.
Geri Halliwell faces fresh torment tonight after WhatsApp texts and photos said to have been exchanged between her F1 husband Christian Horner to a female employee are leaked. Pictured: Halliwell and Horner together at the Monaco Grand Prix last May
The messages come a day after Horner was told he would be cleared of a Red Bull probe into his behaviour
After being clared free to stay on as team principal of the world-championship winning team on a salary of £8million a year
Shortly after the messages and photographs were released Horner released a statement which read: ‘I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate I have always denied the allegations.
‘I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way.
‘It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister, and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made. I remain fully focused on the start of the season.’
It was understood that Halliwell had planned to fly out to Bahrain to support her husband and watch the start of the 2024 Formula One campaign. It is unknown if this is still the case.
The world champion team’s parent company Red Bull GmbH in Salzburg, who launched the probe on February 5, said on Wednesday: ‘The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed.
‘The complainant has a right of appeal. Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial.
‘The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and, therefore, we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned. Red Bull will continue striving to meet the highest workplace standards.’
Earlier today, Horner broke his silence over the matter, telling Sky Sports as he geared up for the Grand Prix that he is ‘pleased the process is over’ but said he ‘cannot comment’ on it.
‘The focus is very much now on the Grand Prix and the season ahead and to defend both of our titles,’ he added.
When probed on whether he thought it marked the end of the matter, the Red Bull chief replied: ‘I can’t give you any further comment but the process has been conducted and concluded.
‘I’m pleased to be here in Bahrain and look on to the season ahead. The unity in the team has never been stronger.’
Halliwell, who shares seven-year-old son Monty with Horner, has not made any public statements about the investigation, but a friend previously told she was ‘devastated’ when they first emerged.
A source close to the couple said last night the last few weeks had been ‘hell for Christian and his family’ and he had always branded the claims as being ‘nuts’.
They told the Sun: ‘Geri has been rock solid behind Christian – and his whole family is relieved and elated that it’s over.
‘Those feelings are there but no one close to Christian feels like celebrating much after what he’s been through.’
The intense spotlight on Horner is said to have been affecting the couple’s home life – which they split between their farmhouse, and stables, in Oxfordshire and a home in North London.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell pose after the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on September 7, 2014
The couple tied the knot at a star-studded ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Woburn in 2015
Halliwell and Horner attend the Gala Dinner for the F1 Grand Prix Of Monaco on May 28, 2023
While Horner batted away concerns telling reports at Red Bull’s new car launch this week that his wife and family had been ‘very supportive’, sources previously told the Mail the singer had been ‘flattened’ by the scandal.
‘Geri is devastated and has been struggling to eat and sleep. Her family and fellow Spice Girls are worried about her,’ the source said last week ahead of Horner being cleared.
‘I hear Christian is trying to pep her up to stay positive, but she has gone to ground in the way she did after she left the Spice Girls. She’s not speaking to anyone.’
Halliwell and Horner mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009.
‘[Geri] was a guest of [former CEO of the Formula One Group] Bernie Ecclestone’s in Monaco one year and came down the pit lane,’ Horner previously told The Telegraph. ‘I remember [McLaren boss] Ron Dennis was standing next to me and Eddie Jordan was there as well.
‘She gave Ron a kiss on the cheek, and she gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m on for a kiss on the cheek here!’ And I went to give her one and she shoved her hand out at me.’
Their relationship, however, got off to a rocky start, coming under fire after the Red Bull chief left his long-term partner Beverley Allen six months after she gave birth to their daughter Olivia.
Halliwell and Horner at the Larkhill Royal Artillery Point to Point in Wiltshire on January 27
Halliwell and Horner mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009. They are pictured here in Monaco in 2023
Christian and Geri’s relationship came under fire after the Formula One boss left his long-term partner Beverley Allen (pictured) six months after the birth of their daughter, Olivia
Horner and Halliwell meet then-Prince Charles at a Prince’s Trust event in London in 2019
While the couple took a short break to see if Horner could rescue his relationship with the mother of his child, just nine months he announced his engagement to Ginger Spice in an in the The Times in 2014.
It said: ‘The engagement is announced between Christian, son of Mr and Mrs G.M. Horner and Geraldine, daughter of the late Mr L.F. Halliwell and Mrs A Parkinson.’
The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015.
Halliwell’s A-line lace bridal gown was designed by British designer Phillipa Lepley.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Bluebell, whom she had with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi in 2005, also attended the wedding.
Guests included Geri’s former Spice Girls co-star Emma Bunton, radio presenter and singer Myleene Klass, and TV presenter Amanda Holden.
Christian Horner, pictured with Prince Harry before the Texas Grand Prix in October last year
Ginger Spice and Horner are pictured at the World Premiere of ‘The Moonwalkers’ last December
Horner and Halliwell in a holiday photograph taken on an unidentified beach over Christmas
Miss Halliwell threw her husband Horner a surprise 50th birthday party in December last year
Christian’s parents were reportedly left devastated when the sporting professional left Ms Allen to be with the chart-topping star and therefore chose not to see the duo tie the knot.
A source close to the couple previously said: ‘Geri and Christian are disappointed that his parents aren’t coming.’
Horner has won 13 world championships since heading the team as a 31-year-old in 2005. He was then the youngest team principal on the grid, yet is now its longest-serving.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was quizzed ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix today over whether Red Bull’s probe into Horner had impacted or altered the team’s preparations for the season.
The Dutchman, insisting that his focus has not been altered, replied: ‘It doesn’t. I’m very focused on just the performance of the car and myself.
‘Hopefully it will be resolved very soon. It’s a whole team effort that everyone has to stick together and work to more success, so that’s why it’s important to get everything resolved very soon.
‘(Horner) is very important otherwise he wouldn’t have been in that position for such a long time.’