Geri Halliwell is facing renewed distress as WhatsApp texts and photos, allegedly exchanged between her F1 husband Christian Horner and a female employee, were leaked on Thursday. The intimate and sexual WhatsApp exchanges with the female colleague were reportedly sent to Formula One's most influential figures.
The series of intimate messages, which included 79 screenshots, comes just a day after the Spice Girl told friends she is "relieved and elated" that her husband of nine years had been cleared in a Red Bull investigation. On Thursday night, friends revealed to Daily Mail that Halliwell and Horner's marriage is now being questioned for the first time following the leaked messages.
Fresh Torment, Marriage in Question
Despite being 'devastated' when the allegations initially surfaced, the 51-year-old pop star continued to stand by her husband, who vehemently denied the claims. Friends revealed last night that she was relieved that her unwavering support for her husband had been vindicated, as Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Englishman, cleared of "coercive behavior" by Red Bull's Salzburg-based parent company, is now free to continue in his role as the team principal of the world-championship winning team, with an annual salary of $10 million.
Just a little over 24 hours, however, the couple has been thrust back into the spotlight as a series of exchanges were emailed to key figures in the sport by an anonymous sender, just days before the Grand Prix in the Middle East is set to start.
The unidentified sender included prominent figures in the sport, including FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, as well as accredited media assembled in Bahrain for the controversial inaugural race of the season, the Daily Mail reported.
The collection of seemingly damning material surfaced as the second practice started at 6 pm, around 24 hours after Horner was cleared from 'coercive behavior' allegations by his team's parent company, Red Bull GmbH, based in Salzburg.
According to the Associated Press, nearly 200 people were included in the email distribution.
"I won't comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations," Horner said in a statement that a Red Bull team spokesperson read to reporters.
"I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way," Horner's statement continued.
"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."
Halliwell Devastated
Friends close to the Spice Girl, who staunchly supported her husband of nine years throughout the internal probe, have now revealed that she is "having the meltdown to all meltdowns" over the leaks.
Halliwell had initially planned to fly out to the Grand Prix in Bahrain this weekend to publicly reunite with Horner, but those in her circle have said that it is now "highly unlikely" for her to join him.
Instead, the mother-of-two is said to be "feeling humiliated" after the messages were widely circulated.
Friends of the former Spice Girl told the Daily Mail that she believed the scandal had "finally gone away," but they have now cautioned that the emergence of the intimate messages, totaling 79 screenshots, could potentially "destroy" her.
"All along Christian promised there was nothing in it," one friend told the outlet.
Another expressed concern about how the star, who is now left mortified by the embarrassing fallout, will cope with such a public humiliation.
He said: "Geri has been living in this happy, happy bubble for so many years now, she thought she had her prince and her knight in shining armor but now this.
"She thought that it had all gone away, she was delighted and over the moon when she learned Christian had been cleared.
"Geri was pilloried when she got together with Christian because he had just had another baby with another woman but she has worked hard to rid that image of herself and Christian, and in particular that she is a homewrecker.
"Now it has all come crashing down. The tears stopped when the judgment came in on Wednesday, now they absolutely will have started again.
"This will destroy her. All along Christian promised there was nothing in it."
On Thursday, Horner changed his WhatsApp avatar, no longer featuring the image from the alleged exchanges with the woman in question.
The FIA and F1's owners, Liberty Media, were weighing up their response to the now-publicly available evidence.
It isn't clear if the messages were presented to the Red Bull-led investigation is uncertain, but there is a belief that they were likely presented.
