AMANDA PLATELL: What did Geri expect marrying a man like F1's Horner?

When ex-Spice girl Geri Halliwell first got together with the multi-millionaire Formula 1 boss Christian Horner nearly a decade ago, she described him as ‘her prince, her knight in shining armour’.

With his £41million fortune and an £8million-a-year salary, he catapulted the washed-up, single mum-of-one pop star into a world of unimaginable riches.

Two sprawling country estates, another lavish North London home and flights across the world so she could always be at his side in the billionaire playground of the F1 circuit.

Her fairy-tale lifestyle as Mrs Geri Horner was pure gold; it came to personify the Spice Girls’ hit Viva Forever — ‘Forever I’ll be waiting, everlasting, like the sun.’

Well, the sun may now be setting on their romance.

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell first got together with the multi-millionaire Formula 1 boss Christian Horner nearly a decade ago

Because just 24 hours after Horner was cleared this week of ‘coercive behaviour’ at work, WhatsApp messages of a sexual nature, allegedly between him and an unknown colleague, were leaked anonymously to his F1 bosses.

Should Geri really be surprised? Let’s not forget, after all, that when she embarked on her relationship with Christian, he had just dumped another poor woman even though she had given birth to their child just six months earlier.

His parents were so disgusted by their son’s betrayal that they refused to attend his lavish wedding to Geri.

Geri, meanwhile, created a gilded image of their life — sharing their mansions with their children — in glossy celebrity magazine Hello!. It appeared to be the most happy family.

These WhatsApp ‘sexts’ seem to tell a different story.

Surely Geri should have been wise enough to realise that Christian was always going to be a someone who could tire of her and look for other attractions. If a man leaves his partner six months after she’s given birth to their child, why would you imagine he’d remain loyal to you? Maybe she thought, in her arrogance, it could never happen to her.

But a leopard never changes his spots. Now her husband appears to have cheated on Geri.

And the golden life she thought he’d given her could be tarnished beyond repair.

Fashion pundits declare ‘the end of the bra’ after Saint Laurent’s collection showcases skeletal models in diaphanous dresses. Rubbish. Size zero models are not burdened with real mum bosoms in need of a supportive bra.

You can take it as red. . . Monica’s back

Twenty-six years after Monica Lewinsky was shamed over her lurid liaisons with President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office and retreated into purdah, she has re-emerged, aged 50, as a feminist icon, resplendent in Reformation’s new workwear ‘power’ campaign, defiantly wearing power-red. Am guessing a blue dress was out of the question.

Monica Lewinsky is resplendent in Reformation’s new workwear ‘power’ campaign, defiantly wearing power-red

The last picture of Hairy Biker Dave Myers before his death from cancer was of him and best friend Si King on the sofa watching TV. Their crazy cooking and biking adventures captured the hearts of millions for decades, but in the end what we loved most was their friendship. Which led to the perfect epitaph from Si: ‘My best friend is on a journey that, for now, I can’t follow.’

BBC must say sorry to us

The family of the then 17- year-old paid £35,000 by Huw Edwards for sexual photos say they’ve been ‘ripped apart’ and the Beeb has apologised. We’re told Huw’s too unwell to respond to a BBC probe and he’s said to have been suspended on full pay of £435,000 since July. Auntie should also apologise to licence fee payers for still filling his pockets.

Oprah Winfrey admitted she’s been taking slimming drugs. Coincidentally, she’s leaving the board of WeightWatchers which promotes natural weight loss through calorie-counting. 

Not a good look for Oprah to have cheated, though some justice that her £34million stake in the firm will have been hit by an 18 per cent fall in share price.

Oprah Winfrey has admitted she’s been taking slimming drugs

Westminster Wars

Angela Rayner is accused of being less than transparent as to whether she actually lived in a council house she sold, for a profit of £48,500. All very complicated, but giving false information on the electoral register is an offence. Keir Starmer said he had ‘absolute confidence in answers her team had given’. Hardly a ringing endorsement.

What does it say about British politics when George Galloway wins the Rochdale by-election? He’s a revolting man whose career ‘peaked’ when he wore a crotch-clutching Lycra bodysuit on Celebrity Big Brother and meowing as he pretended to be a cat.

Policing a prince

Having lost his legal battle over taxpayer-funded police security, Prince Harry vows to appeal the decision. Perplexing, as his mum’s ex-bodyguard Ken Wharfe says he’ll always be protected here, as he is still a prince of the realm.

But, given his trashing of the Royal Family, maybe Harry does need extra protection, from those of us who can’t bear what he’s doing to King and Country.

Holly’s show skates on thin ice

Is Holly Willoughby regretting her swift exit from presenting ITV’s This Morning on a £1million deal, after the Phillip Schofield debacle and an alleged threat to her life?

Her only TV presenting role now is Dancing On Ice, which has hit the skids with just 2.9million watching the prime Saturday night slot— down from 12million in its heyday. No wonder Holly’s smile looks as frozen as that ice rink.

Holly Willoughby’s only TV presenting role now is Dancing On Ice, which has hit the skids with just 2.9million watching the prime Saturday night slot— down from 12million in its heyday

After Charlotte Church led a choir singing ‘From the river to the sea’, wearing a pro-Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, she insisted she is not anti-Semitic, just pro-peace. Maybe the £450-a-night guests at her wellness retreat The Dreaming will soon get a free scarf or Hamas paraglider badge.

Producers of the West End’s Slave Play have banned white people — declaring that on two specific nights, only an ‘all-Black-identifying audience’ can attend.

Jolly good. But what’s to stop any whitie from rocking up ‘identifying’ as a black person?

Why I’m proud to pay UK tax

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering scrapping ‘non-dom’ tax status to raise £3.6 billion for tax cuts.

When I was a newly arrived Australian citizen with a six-figure salary in the 1980s, my accountant suggested I register as a non-dom, since I had a home in Oz and could avoid paying UK tax.

I said if Britain is prepared to give me a new life, why wouldn’t I pay tax here?

After a decade in the pop wilderness, Girls Aloud announced their comeback — thrilled to reveal their first return gig is not Glastonbury or any of the other great music festivals such as Reading or the Isle of Wight, but this year’s LGBT+ festival, Brighton Pride. Wear it with pride ladies, out and loud.

Girls Aloud have announced their comeback with their first return gig at this year’s LGBT+ festival, Brighton Pride

Disappointing for fans that Adele, 35, has — at short notice — postponed a string of her Las Vegas residency dates due to health issues, especially as it means they don’t get their money back (if she’d cancelled the dates they would have) and some have paid £6,000 a ticket.

To my mind, she’s now Rolling In The Deep Doo-doo.