SHOCKING GERI HALLIWELL ARTICLE
Andrew
Geri Halliwell has spoken out about her battle with eating disorders,
revealing she got down on her knees and binged on leftover chocolate cake
from pop star George Michael's rubbish bin.
The singer, who is planning to marry her reformed drug addict boyfriend
Demian Walker, gives a brutally frank account of her illness in her second
autobiography Just For The Record. She also admits to abusing tranquillisers
and spending up to $3,000 a week to satisfy a bizarre lingerie addiction.
Already on a self-destructive downward spiral, Geri says her moment of truth
occurred after a Thanksgiving dinner she organised while staying alone at
the LA home of George Michael. When the last guest left, Geri threw the
leftovers into a bin outside to help her resist temptation.
But later, as she was preparing for bed, her urge to binge got the better of
her. She returned to the bin, got on her knees and trawled for remnants of
squashed chocolate cake, which she gorged on. "I felt a terrible sense of
shame but I couldn't stop," she admits in the book. "I ate and ate and ate
until I was so full all I could do was sleep." Writing frankly, Geri says
the eating disorders she has suffered since her late teens went overdrive
when she was dumped by UK music mogul Chris Evans in 2000. Her relationship
with Evans was initially dismissed by the UK press as a publicity stunt, but
Geri says her pain at the break-up was very real, and it prompted weeks of
bingeing during which she would often lie around in her pyjamas all day and
eat until she passed out.
"Every day is a bad hair day when you can't be bothered to wash it, and mine
was a greasy, tousled mess. I even stopped brushing my teeth. It was a cycle
that seemed impossible to break. I had even started to take Diazepam
tranquillisers so I could sleep for 15 hours at a time. I didn't want to
live, but I didn't want to die either," the 30-year-old recalls in her
autobiography. "I just wanted to be blank and let the world go by."
Disgusted at how low she'd stooped, Geri joined Overeaters Anonymous in
December 2000. At her first meeting, the star says she felt reconnected with
"real people" and was given strength to battle her condition. That night she
wrote in her diary, "My name is Geri and I am a recovering compulsive
overeater, bulimic anorexic."
Unfortunately she was soon showing more signs of obsessive behaviour
regarding food and body image. Geri banned cakes from photo shoots,
complained repeatedly about her waxwork figure in Madame Tussaud's museum,
claiming the effigy was too fat, and had vitamins injected into her
bloodstream to make up for her avoidance of food.
Not that food is the only problem for Geri - at one point Just For The
Record reveals she was forking out up to $3,000 a week on an uncontrollable
underwear habit. And the man who is currently enjoying this vast array of
undergarments is US millionaire Demian Walker.
The pair met in April this year, when Geri - again suffering from eating
disorders - checked into Arizona's Cottonwood rehab clinic, where
millionaire Demian, 27, was being treated for substance abuse.
Geri and her new beau were allegedly soon kicked out of the clinic for
inappropriate, steamy behaviour. "Demian's mother was so disappointed," says
one insider. "Apparently he was nearing the end of his treatment and the
last thing he needed was a major distraction like Geri Halliwell."
But her objections have done nothing to hinder the romance, and sources say
the couple plan to marry next year. "Geri is over the moon that Demian has
asked her to marry him," says a source. "She's very much in love."
Geri confirms her happiness, saying, "It's only early days for us, but
Demian makes me happy and that's all I could ask for. That's enough for me.
This is my first proper relationship for ages."
But the singer has a different angle on her initial meeting with Demian. "We
met in a pet shop in California, looking at puppies," she says. "If I
remember rightly, I was looking pretty hideous. It wasn't a good hair day.
But they always say you meet someone when you least expect it and that
couldn't be more true for me. Finding a boyfriend was absolutely the last
thing on my mind when I met Demian."
Geri kept so quiet about her Spice Girl roots Demian didn't even know she
was a star. "Then, one day, we were at a rodeo together and someone
screamed, 'Oh my god, you're Geri Halliwell', she reveals. "Demian thought
it was bizarre that a complete stranger would know who I was but after that
the cat was out of the bag."
And despite the pair's chequered past, Demian seems to be a calming
influence on Geri. "We have a very normal, down-to-earth relationship," she
says. "We still like going to the pet shop, getting the puppies out and
pretending we're going to buy them. There's nothing remotely showbiz about
us. Over the last few months, I've remembered what it's like to be a human
being again, and I've really been enjoying it."
The couple are planning to officially announce their engagement once Geri
has finished her role as a judge on the UK's Popstars: The Rivals. But many
see the rehab relationship as another in a long line of doomed romances for
the singer.
"I think we all know that relationships haven't been one of my strong
points," even Geri admits. And since her split from Chris Evans, she has had
flings with Robbie Williams, US basketball player Steve Nash and coffee shop
tycoon Bobby Hashemi - and each affair quickly fizzled out. Not only that,
she alienated a host of friends, including George Michael, her former
bandmates, and Robbie, who even called her a "demonic little girl".
"Life is a messy experience and in the past, I simply wasn't ready to
commit. I think becoming famous arrested my development," admits Geri. "I
was emotionally immature and, as a result, unable to have strong, intimate
relationships with men."
This sentiment is shared by ex-pal George Michael, who says, "Geri's a
lovely girl, but it's very difficult to maintain a relationship with a
person who lives for the press."
And now, with her second autobiography out soon, a judging spot on UK TV's
Popstars: The Rivals and a controversial second yoga video set for release,
it seems Geri's needy relationship with the media is far from over.
Just For The Record (Random House, $55) is released October 10.
---
Outgoing mail is Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.381 / Virus Database: 214 - Release Date: 2/08/2002