Geri Halliwell was bullied out of the Spice Girls by power-hungry Scary Spice, it was sensationally revealed last night. The band's chauffeur Paul Attridge, 31, watched the onslaught take place and told the News of the World: "Mel B isn't justScary - she was cruel. Geri broke down in tears under the abuse. "They both wanted to be the leader of the pack and Mel B hated not getting everything her ownway." Paul reveals that Geri would sweat through tireless extra hours of rehearsal to sharpen up her sensational act while Scary worked overtime to make her feel useless and miserable. Paul delivered the bombshell revelation behind the biggest pop split of the decade was delivered after seeing it all as he ferried the Spice Girls around Britain and Europe in their luxurious stretch Mercedes. "Mel B - or Scary Spice as she's rightly known - was always making nasty comments to the other girls about Geri,"he said. "It could reduce her to floods of tears. "She'd say things like, 'Oh look, the little whore's got her boobs out again'. "Mel B has a problem with anyone who challenges her power ... and as well as being a complete bully towards all the girls she's extremely stubborn. "For example, if one of the girls puts a step wrong in the act she'll shout at them in a really mean and cutting way, putting them down and making them feel small and stupid. Victoria, Mel C and Emma can shrug it off but it really got to Geri." Paul, who is soon to complete a book based on his experiences with the Spice Girls, said Geri, 25, realised early on she was not a natural singer and performer like the other four - but wasdetermined to get there by hard work. "Before their first live gig in Istanbul, the girls spent a month rehearsing in Cannes in the south of France," he added. "Every morning the girls would start going through their routines at 10am but Geri told me to be at the villa at 8.30am so she could get to the venue at 9am. For an hour she would be on her own with a dance instructor. "And it was really sweet to watch her in the back of the Merc on her way to those early sessions. "I'd hear her start singing into a dictaphone, not loudly, but she'd play it back and start to do dance steps in the back. You could hear her tapping her feet on the floor of the car." But it didn't save her from Mel B'stemper when the Istanbul concert got under way. "With the song Mama they just sat down on the floor and Geri didn't have to do anything," said Paul, 31. "So she got away with that one, but with some of the others there was more of a problem."Mel B really laid into poor old Geri in front of everyone. She screamed, 'Come on Geri, get it together'. "Geri knew herself she needed to do yet more work and after another withering blast from Scary she ran into a trailer in tears." Paul revealed that the Spice Girls' management, worried a photographer would snap the bust-up, sent him to chase after her and stand by the trailer door to make sure no one approached until Geri stopped sobbing. "Mel B could reduce anyone to tears," Paul added. "But Mel C - Sporty Spice - was a real peacekeeper and would shout back and hold her ground. Posh Spice Victoria would take it but she was like the mummy of the family because ifthey had a problem they all came to Victoria for a chat. She'd listen and sympathise without taking sides." But outside of her bust-ups with Geri, said Paul, one of 24-year-old Mel B's most furious rants was directed at Baby Spice after she started her affair with their then-manager Simon Fuller. Paul recalled: "Mel B was in the back of my car yelling at someone from the management team at the top of her voice. "She was shouting about how she thought it was disgusting that Fuller had manipulated Emma into bed and was taking advantage of her by having sex with her. "That was just her opinion, but Mel B's opinion on everything was completely extreme. "And in her mind Fuller had started a sexualrelationship with Emma so he could tighten his grip on the band. "Mel B talked openly about how she thought Fuller was having sex with Emma and Fuller's employee just sat there and took it. You can't disagree with Mel B because it makes things worse and she gets hysterical. That's how she was in the back of the car, swearing, using the F-word, making it very clear what she thought of Fuller and Emma. "But really, you couldn't dislike Emma. She wasn't just putting on her Baby Spice little-girl-lost act, it was real. "She was very easily led and if she got out of my car on a film set she would stand and wait for someone to come over and tell her where to go or what to do. "Mel B drummed it into her that Fuller had just used herto keep a grip on the band and she seemed to accept that." The power of the band's image - and Mel B - over individual members was never more evident than when they sacked Simon Fuller and decided to handle their own affairs. Emma was forced tostop her affair. Paul said sombrely: "Emma had been given an ultimatum that if she didn't go along with what the girls wanted they'd split. Emma simply never saw him again. "She even started using her mum's mobile so Fuller couldn't call her." Paul has nothing but respect for Posh Spice Victoria. "A lovely girl, and so in love with David Beckham, " he sighed. He told how Manchester Utd star Beckham thought nothing of driving the length of the country to spend no more than a few minutes with Posh. Once he drove right from Manchester to the Heathrow Hilton where the girls had a meeting with their lawyer. Paul added: "I heard her tell him on the phone she'd have less than an hour to be withhim before they had to catch a plane but he still came down. "David waited outside the meeting and their time together turned out so short he drove her round to the terminal building himself so they could grab the two-minute drive as their chance to be together." He added: "I drove both her and David around together just once because he always picked her up in his car but that one time I could see how comfortable they were with each other. "Their arms and legs were entwined and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. They were pretty physical." But despite the distractions and tensions offstage, said Paul, most of the SpiceGirls' fans noticed nothing wrong with the performances ... because, he added, their voices were occasionally computer aided! "At one rehearsal I spoke to a crew member sitting before a bank of dials," he recalled. "He explained that if one sang a duff note the computer brought it back up to perfect pitch." This weekend, though, there was a pitched battle after Gerireportedly sent a message to the other Spice Girls saying she would never sing with them again. Yesterday her legal team was locked in a meeting with Spice Girls lawyers. The top level discussions were being held abroad-either in France or Belgium. "She alwaysseemed apart from the rest of the band - almost a loner," said Paul. "Yet she was continually seeking attention and revelling in it. "Even after gruelling rehearsals and the full show she was stilllively and bubbly. The other girls would have nodded off on the way home on the back seat but Geri never seemed to get tired. She had huge reserves of energy. " Geri was also very aware the Spice Girls' fantastic success could end at any time ... and saved every penny. "I never ever saw her spending large amounts," he explained. "The other four would go shopping to the best shops like Prada in Sloane Square, but never Geri-she thought it was too expensive. Even a handbag there can cost 500. "Mel B used to spend money like it was going out of fashion." Once, he said, the band was at the five-star Metropolitan Hotel on London's trendy Park Lane-handy for the premiere of their movie Spiceworld. Mel B popped next door to the Hilton Hotel to check out its in-house jewellery boutique. "She saw a diamond-studded Rolex she liked and within seconds had paid 10,000 for it," said Paul. "She jumped into the back of the car and was waving it about. "But Geri got her own back because shortly afterwards their second album went to No 1 and record bosses gave them EACH a diamond-studded Rolex. "Geri was dead chuffed to get the same watch as Mel B and not have to pay a penny for it. "Geri never even pushed out the boat enough to buy herself designer dresses. "I think she was given plenty of outfits free but I never saw her buy any herself. She liked glitzy tops and anything to show off hercleavage but when she bought them they were cheap ones." He said that even when Geri was in one of the most fashionable streets in the world, the Rue D'Antibes in Cannes, she refused to splash out. All she did was window shop. "We went past Chanel and Louis Vuitton," he recalled. "But the only stores she went into were the French equivalents of Marks Spencer and Miss Selfridge and even then she didn't buy anything." Paul continued: "Her only slightly expensive taste was for underwear.I particularly remember one time in Nice when she went into an undies boutique with her mum. "As she was trying some on, half an English rugby team walked in to buy presents for their girlfriends. "They were making plenty of noise and when she heard them she walked out wearing just a bra and panties. "She was supposed to be showing the undies to her mum but she knew it was only a matter of seconds before the lads noticed. "Once they did they all rushed over and surrounded her. She didn'ttry to cover herself up at all. She gave the squad the thrill of their lives and loved it as much as them." There was just one other bottom line that interested Geri, added Paul ... the ins and outs of the Spice Girl accounts. "She wanted to be the business brain," he said. "And she knows now that even if she never performs again after Virgin Records have taken out costs she is still going to get a fifth of 80 per cent of every CD that sells." The other 20 per cent goes to the management team under a longstanding agreement, despite Fuller's sacking. Paul added: "All the girls are well aware they are seriously rich and Geri certainly knows exactly what she's worth down to the last 5p. Her wealth isn't tied up in property or trusts or anything like that-it's real money,cash in the bank. "The other girls are probably worth over 10 million each. I'd guess she has quite a bit more because she never spent anything." Paul was personally asked by Mel C to stick by them when they split with Fuller, but his work dried up as they spent more and more time abroad as tax exiles. But he is certain that Mel B will still be boiling with frustration. He added: "Even now, although Geri's hiding away she's still getting all the attention."

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