Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner’s PDA at Bahrain Grand Prix echoes some notorious shows of solidarity by famous couples hit by scandal

Arriving hand-in-hand for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix wearing vintage Gucci and a poker face, Geri Horner was determined to give everyone a clear message: Stand By Your Man. 

Spice Girl Geri was seen sharing several PDAs with her beleaguered husband Christian Horner – after the humiliating leak of hundreds of WhatsApp messages, apparently exchanged between the Red Bull team principle and a female colleague. 

And yet the couple were all over each other, sharing kisses and huddling up close, all in full sight of the photographers.

It comes straight out of the playbook of a beleagured MP after a cheating scandal – kiss for the cameras and perhaps it will make everyone forget. 

Dominic West tried the same tactic in a notoriously awkward photoshoot with his wife in 2020, after he was caught in a passionate clinch with then co-star Lily James.

Another memorable cheating row from that same year saw a teary-eyed Will Smith put on a show of unity with Jada Pinkett-Smith after she admitted to an affair with musician August Alsina – by appearing on their family talk show.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the cringe-worthy moments of solidarity from seemingly hard-done spouses…

CHRISTIAN HORNER AND GERI HALIWELL 

Geri Halliwell shared a kiss with her beleaguered husband Christian Horner at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, amid scandal rumours.

It appeared that Christian leaned in to kiss his wife in full view of the cameras as the world watched their response to the controversy that has rocked Formula One.

After they shared a smooch, Geri seemed to look directly at photographers. 

Her husband, Red Bull F1 chief Christian, has faced allegations relating to hundreds of WhatsApp messages that appeared to be written by him to a female colleague.

Christian was cleared to continue as Red Bull head following an internal probe into ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by the F1 team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH. The 50-year-old has always denied the claims. 

Christian initially broke cover on Saturday morning with no sign of Geri after his wife found out the texts were leaked as she was flying in a private jet.

Yet the couple walked hand-in-hand in the Paddock in Bahrain. Geri appeared red-eyed as she put on a brave face, smiling while her husband clenched her hand. 

Last week, Red Bull cleared Horner of inappropriate behaviour allegations which were made by a female employee.

But 24 hours later, flirtatious WhatsApp messages apparently exchanged between Christian and the female complainant were leaked to 149 F1 figures while Geri was on a flight to see her husband ahead of this weekend’s season opener.

An insider previously told the Mail it would be ‘mayhem’ if Geri showed her face at Saturday’s Grand Prix. 

However, Red Bull confirmed to Mail Sport on Saturday that the former Spice Girl would be on the grid and she was seen at around 1.20pm with her F1 boss husband.

Geri was holding ‘crisis talks’ over Christian’s leaked text messages and did not want to meet her husband in Bahrain until she was talked into it by his family, sources earlier claimed.

Red Bull workers are reportedly afraid that more messages may be leaked.

Christian, who has won 13 world championships since heading the team as a 31-year-old in 2005, had previously thanked his ‘very supportive wife’ for her backing during the accusations.

Geri and Christian mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009.

Their relationship, however, got off to a rocky start, coming under fire after the Red Bull chief left his long-term partner Beverley Allen six months after she gave birth to their daughter Olivia.

While the couple took a short break to see if Christian could rescue his relationship with the mother of his child, just nine months later he announced his engagement to Ginger Spice in a notice in the The Times in 2014.

The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015.

Geri’s A-line lace bridal gown was designed by British designer Phillipa Lepley.

Her nine-year-old daughter, Bluebell, whom she had with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi in 2005, also attended the wedding.

Guests included Geri’s former Spice Girls co-star Emma Bunton, radio presenter and singer Myleene Klass, and TV presenter Amanda Holden.

DOMINIC WEST AND CATHERINE FITZGERALD

Dominic West and his wife struck a ‘denial pose’ in echoes of ‘unfaithful politicians trying to save their careers’ as they posed outside their house in 2020 – in a famously awkward photoshoot.

The actor, who wasn’t wearing his wedding ring, and his wife Catherine FitzGerald kissed and put on a united front outside their Wiltshire home after his passionate clinch with Lily James in Rome in a pose reminiscent of various MPs – including the likes of Piers Merchant. 

Speaking to FEMAIL at the time, body language guru Judi James said she was surprised the couple went for the ‘old-school and rather gruesome body language ritual known as ‘The Denial’ pose’ to prove their marriage is still ‘strong’ and that they’re ‘very much still together’.

‘Whether prompted by guilt or actual innocence, the denial ritual is notoriously and historically one of the trickiest non-verbal performances to pull off,’ she explained. 

‘A favourite of face-and-career-saving politicians, who would often involve their entire family in the Walton’s-style shots, the public have become cynical as a result of so many of them emerging just prior to a split.’ 

The photos came one day after the actor and the Mamma Mia! star Lily, caused quite the stir with their passionate – and very public – display and didn’t seem to mind who saw them as they cuddled up while taking in the sights of the Italian city. 

JADA PINKETT-SMITH AND WILL SMITH 

Many fans were left wincing after Will Smith four years ago joined his wife Jada Pinkett-Smit on Red Table Talk – for a candid conversation about the affair she had admitted to having.

During their talk on the Facebook show, the two openly discussed Jada’s ‘entanglement’ with August Alsina as they even addressed the break in their marriage in 2015. 

In the episode, the Hollywood couple sat opposite each other as they set the record straight and reaffirmed their commitment to each other.

Jada began explaining that the couple met August through their son Jaden, 25, and recalled the singer, who would have been 23 at the time, was ‘really sick’.

Jada said: ‘And it all started with him just needing some help, me wanting to help his health, his mental state. 

‘The outpouring for him from our family was initially about his health,’ she said. ‘We found all those different resources to help pull him through and from there you and I were going through a very difficult time.’ 

Following Jada’s confession Will admitted: ‘I was done with you,’ while Jada added that they decided to separate for a ‘period of time’.

‘And then what did you do, Jada?’ Will asked, urging his wife to keep talking. 

‘As time went on, I got into a different type of entanglement with August,’ Jada explained.

The mother-of-two went on to respond to August’s claim that Will gave her ‘permission’ to have an affair.

‘The only person that can give permission in that circumstance is myself,’ she insisted.

‘But what August was probably trying to communicate because I could see how he could see it as permission because we were separated amicably, and I think he wanted to make it clear he’s not a home wrecker, because he’s not.’

When Will pushed Jada to clarify what she meant by ‘entanglement’ she responded, ‘It was a relationship, absolutely.’ 

As Will made light of the fact that he’s being the dutiful husband and standing by his wife after her ‘transgressions’ amid intense media scrutiny, Jada admitted that she doesn’t see her relationship with August ‘as a transgression at all’.

Jade said: ‘Through that particular journey, I learned so much about myself and was able to really confront a lot of emotional immaturity, emotional insecurity and I was really able to do some really deep healing.

In October, Jada admitted that she decided to stay by Will’s side, the moment he slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.

‘I knew it was going to be an intense reaction. And that was the moment that I decided that I was going to stay by his side,’ she said on The One Show. ‘You know, it’s funny how intense situations can amplify love, and it was a pretty difficult time, but it definitely drew us closer. So yeah, it’s, crazy how things work.’

In the explosive memoir, she has revealed how the dynamics of her marriage with famous actor and Will changed after the Oscars.

The pair had secretly separated six years prior to the incident, with Jada confessing: ‘I’m not thinking in a million years he’s getting up on stage and it has anything to do with me!’

Speaking to Red magazine, she added: ‘That’s when your relationship gets deeper than romance or all the c**p that comes with marriage.

‘I was just really concerned about Will. And I realised in that moment that, as challenging as our relationship can be, I’m always going to be by his side, no matter what.’

At the 94th Academy Awards, Will strode onto the stage and slapped Chris after the comedian cracked a joke about Jada looking like ‘G.I. Jane’ because of her bald head when she had recently revealed that was suffering from alopecia.

While she and Will were living separately at the time, Jada explained that they’ve always had each other’s backs, more so now that they’re apart.

PIERS AND HELEN MERCHANT 

Disgraced former Tory MP Piers Merchant, who died in September, 2009, was caught with 17-year-old Soho nightclub ‘hostess’ Anna Cox at the height of the Tory sleaze furore before the 1997 General Election. 

His wife Helen Merchant backed her husband by declaring that he had been a ‘bloody fool’ but that she still loved him – and similarly appeared on the doorstep of the family home and kissed him passionately.

Piers, a committed Thatcherite, was Personal Private Secretary to Social Security Secretary Peter Lilley at the time of the Anna Cox scandal.

He immediately denied that he was having an affair with the Soho hostess claiming: ‘Anna is a dear friend of mine and has been helping my campaign.

‘But there is no question of us having an affair. I have never made love to her.’

He was quoted as saying: ‘That may well be me kissing her in the picture, but I see nothing wrong with that. I am sure my wife will not be the slightest bit concerned.’

Within days of being caught out by the Sun, Piers and his wife appeared on the doorstep of their family home and passionately kissed for the benefit of the assembled Press.

Despite the controversy, he retained his Beckenham seat at the election. 

He claimed that he had been the victim of an elaborate ‘sting’  and claimed that Cox had been recruited by the Sun from a Soho hostess bar.

Until the story broke in the Sun, Anna’s family had not known she was working in a strip club as a £100-a-night hostess.

The girl who had left school with ten GCSEs told them she was a waitress.

‘I’m not old enough to vote  –  but I’m old enough to know when I’ve been used,’ Ms Cox was quoted as saying at the time.

But despite the controversy over the pictures Piers then befriended Ms Cox and hired her as his assistant and began an affair.

He took Ms Cox to the Tory conference in Blackpool that year and they were videoed in another tabloid sting – set up by Merchant’s former colleague Anthony Gilberthorpe.

Gilberthorpe had been paid £25,000 by the Mirror, whose journalists had wired the flat with concealed video recorders to capture the couple’s cavortings.

He also invited the couple to stay in his York flat, secretly filmed them in bed and released that, too.

Pictures from their bedroom romp made the front page of the Sunday Mirror for a further two weeks.

Mrs Merchant still stood by her husband, insisting that Ms Cox was a family friend with whom she was happy for her husband to spend his nights.

But Piers later admitted to the Mail that he had slept with Ms Cox up to two months before the Tory conference.

In a detailed explanation of the affair, Piers told how he had broken the news of his infidelity to his wife in a mobile phone call onboard a packed commuter train.

And he was later forced to apologise for having lied to the public and his party about the affair when confronted.

Piers said: ‘As the story was breaking I made a statement which was deliberately misleading.

‘To counter the allegations, I issued a statement saying categorically: “Piers Merchant and Anna Cox are NOT having an affair.”

‘Strictly speaking, because of the tense, that was true. We were not having an affair – we were sitting at home with my wife and family. I admit it was deceptive. I was trying to be too clever, and I regret that.’

In 2004 Piers was caught out again cheating on his wife with 41-year-old property consultant Caroline Bew in yet another tabloid sting.

Piers quit as an MP 48 hours later under pressure from new Tory leader William Hague.

Ina statement he said: ‘This is entirely my own decision. I have been put under no pressure from anyone else to do this.

‘I have always tried to work as effectively as possible for all my constituents.

‘I have informed my agent and Conservative Association chairman but have not yet had the opportunity to discuss the matter.

‘I hope my quick decision will reduce damage to the local association.’

DAVID AND VICTORIA BECKHAM

In 2004, David Beckham’s former personal assistant Rebecca Loos made shocking claims of a affair with the football star – in the now defunct newspaper, News of the World.

David has always denied the affair, adding that the allegations were ‘ludicrous’.

In a documentary about his family last year, the athlete did not admit any guilty or anything remotely inappropriate but said the stories were ‘horrible’ and left him ‘feeling sick every day’.

At the time he had been living in Spain, playing for Real Madrid, while Victoria was back in the UK looking after their eldest two children.

However, his love with the ex-Spice Girl has stood the test of time, and the pair are now stronger than ever.

The couple were also determined to shake off rumours when allegations of infidelity first surfaced in 2004.

Shortly after the story came out on April 4 of that year, they sported smiles for the cameras as they were spotted stepping out of Claridge’s to celebrate Victoria’s birthday dinner.

The couple put on a united front as they held onto one another and looked into each other’s eyes.

Meanwhile, at their first red carpet after the allegations, Victoria appeared to leave no room for confusion about the couple’s spark as she confidently draped a possessive hand over him, sporting a sultry dress featuring a corset-style bodice.

The pair were all over one another as they showed the world their marriage wasn’t to be rocked by the rumours.

VERNON KAY AND TESS DALY

This show of unity wasn’t littered with loved-up looks or PDA, but still got the message across loud and clear. 

In 2010, Vernon Kay and his wife Tess Daly made their first public appearance together since news of his ‘sex text’ scandal broke as they co-hosted The Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success awards.

Vernon had admitted he made ‘foolish decisions’ after it was revealed he exchanged racy messages via text and Twitter with glamour model Rhian Sugden and four other women.

He publicly apologised to his wife and family via his Radio 1 show.

The timing of the revelations could nothave been worse for Tess, who wasreleasing a book on parenting.

As they co-hosted the awards, Vernon appeared sheepish, hovering behind his wife and stayed stony-faced while she managed a smile for the paparazzi.

In 2020, Vernon claimed he and Tess have ‘moved on’ from his ‘sexting scandal’ ten years ago in an interview with the Mirror.

COCO AND ICE T

This couple’s seemingly unbreakable bond was rocked by a scandal after photos hit the internet showing Coco cuddling up with another man in 2012.

But Ice-T appeared to have forgiven his wife and the pair put on a united front on a Las Vegas outing just weeks later, in some very eager-looking photos.

It seems the performer may have travelled to the Nevada city to be by his wife’s side – and perhaps keep an eye on her – after she was snapped getting cosy with rapper AP.9.

The trouble in paradise appeared to be behind the pair, however, as they enjoyed a workout followed by a shopping trip.

The couple looked like they were getting on great as they shared a giggle while pumping iron in the fitness centre at the Planet Hollywood hotel.

PADDY AND JANE ASHDOWN

In the 90s, famed politician Paddy Ashdown – who passed away in 2018 – was caught in a scandal.

In 1988 he was elected as the first leader of the Liberal Democrats. Yet, while party leader he managed to survive an expose by The Sun, who branded him ‘Paddy Pantsdown’ over a five-month affair he had with his secretary. 

Ashdown had the five-month relationship in 1985 but in 1992 the News of the World discovered the story. He managed to secure an injunction against the paper before handing it to The Sun – who branded him ‘Paddy Pantsdown’. 

Following the scandal, he changed the message on his answering machine to ‘Hello, this is Paddy Ashdown. Please leave a message after the high moral tone.’ 

Shortly after the story broke, Paddy and his wife Jane took to the quinitissential photoshoot outside their London home.

The pair can be seen hugging outside the steps. Paddy later said that were it not for his wife, he would have gotten ‘into all sorts of trouble’.