The Spice Girls have revealed the inside story of their iconic 'Wannabe' music video, describing a chaotic shoot marked by last-minute changes, freezing temperatures, and improvisation. The video, filmed in April 1996 at London's Midland Grand Hotel, went on to top charts in 37 countries and became the best-selling debut single by an all-female group in history.
From Advert to Global Fame
The Spice Girls began with a small advert in The Stage newspaper in 1994. Hundreds auditioned for the casting call that sought young women who were 'streetwise, ambitious, and able to sing and dance.' From that pool, five young women with different backgrounds and personalities were eventually chosen. By early 1996, they were officially a pop music group called the Spice Girls.
The members were Geri Halliwell, 21, a former dancer and presenter from Watford; Melanie Brown, 20, from Leeds with a powerhouse voice; Victoria Adams, 21, from Hertfordshire, known for her sense of style; Melanie Chisholm, 21, from Liverpool, a trained dancer; and Emma Bunton, the youngest at 18 from north London, who had joined slightly later but quickly became 'Baby Spice.'
A Shoot Plagued by Chaos
Swedish director Johan Camitz prepared to bring the project to life in London. His idea was deceptively simple: one seamless shot of the five bursting into a grand building and taking over the space with carefree mischief. Mod Films produced the project, which cost roughly £130,000, with costumes kept minimal—Geri Halliwell's outfit cost just £20.
The director's original vision had been to shoot in Barcelona, following the girls as they stormed an ornate building and caused playful havoc. But a few days before production, Camitz lost access to the set location, forcing a last-minute scramble to find a location closer to home. The new setting became London's cavernous Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras—cold, dark, and hardly glamorous—but full of potential for mayhem. What was meant to be a carefully choreographed dance video quickly dissolved into making things up.
Emma later admitted that much of the original routine was thrown out at the last minute. The playful hand-clap sequences and the free-flowing movement that defined the video were created on the spot during rehearsals. Because of the continuous-take style, the band had to rehearse repeatedly through the night while a cameraman with a Steadicam sprinted after them. Across the clip, the Spice Girls charge through the grand setting—singing, dancing, clowning around at a bohemian-style gathering, and even showing off Melanie C's athletic back handspring on a table.
Freezing Nights and Professionalism
Geri Horner later said of the 'Wannabe' shoot in the book Girl Power: "I remember the chaos and the cold." She added: "It wasn't very controlled – we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of Spice. I had very big shoes on and fell over many times. I watched it again recently and thought it was like a comedy, really. All the other girls gave me the award for being the biggest prat in it! It's the most spontaneous of our videos."
Despite the cold, the girls' PR Nicki Chapman remembers they were ever the professionals. "It's cold even in the summer if you're on set at night," Nicki explains. "And they had very few clothes on. But there was not one word of complaint from the girls, they were so professional, they were so united. They were just focused and on it. This was their opportunity."
That energy translated into immediate success. Within weeks, 'Wannabe' topped charts in 37 countries and became the best-selling debut single by an all-female group in history. Its infectiousness was confirmed years later: a 2014 study by the University of Amsterdam found 'Wannabe' to be the catchiest song ever recorded, with listeners recognising it in just 2.29 seconds—thanks in large part to Melanie B's unforgettable opening laugh. It outpaced other hits like Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5, recognised at 2.48 seconds, and Survivor's Eye of the Tiger, at 2.62 seconds.
Reflecting on that whirlwind time, Emma summed it up perfectly: "When I think about us and what we did, we got up on stage not knowing what the hell we were doing, we wore Topshop stuff and we were loving it. We never said that we were soul divas, but we all had fun."
