Geri Halliwell to headline Hay Festival alongside Dame Judi Dench and Gary Lineker amid her husband Christian Horner’s ‘sex texts’ scandal

Geri Halliwell has been revealed to be among the star-studded list of guests headlining at this year’s Hay Festival.

The Spice Girl, 51, will be joining in her capacity as an author, having penned a number of children’s books, including the popular Ugenia Lavender series.

The 11-day cultural event attracts around 300,000 people to Hay-on-Wye, Powys to celebrate literature each year, and saw pop superstar Dua Lipa headline last year.

Geri will be joined by Dame Judi Dench, who is leading the drama contributions by sharing extracts from her book, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

Gary Lineker will also be making an appearance for the festival’s Sports Day and Miriam Margolyes will be discussing her memoir Oh Miriam! in the Inspiring Life Stories segment. 

Other famous faces appearing include singer Bonnie Tyler, actor Stephen Fry, presenter Sir Lenny Henry, How to Fail’s Elizabeth Day, singer-songwriter James Blunt, comedian David Baddiel, journalist Clive Myrie, The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades and musician Charlotte Church.

There will also be number of comedy shows during the festival, with sets from Sara Pascoe, Jon Ronson, Ruby Wax, Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes, Adam Kay, Josh Berry, Garth Marenghi, Sofie Hagen, Ahir Shah, Natalie Haynes, Julian Clary and Marcus Brigstocke.

While Nobel Prize-winning activist Maria Ressa and National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa will also appear, as well as former Prime Minister Theresa May and ex-politician Rory Stewart.

A registered charity, Hay Festival is one of the world’s best known cultural events, bringing readers and writers together around the world with programmes to inspire, examine and entertain.

Hay Festival chief executive Julie Finch said: ‘In a year when more voters than ever in history will head to the polls, as at least 64 countries hold their elections, we present a programme to bring people together, respectfully exploring different perspectives and the power of storytelling to unite us.

‘With new venues on our free-to-enter Festival site and diverse new projects throughout the programme, this is a festival for everyone. Join us in a world of different ideas.’

The famed literary event’s 37th spring edition is due to take place between May 23 to June 2, with tickets to go on sale at 12pm on Friday March 15. 

The announcement that Geri will be headlining at the event comes amid her husband Christian Horner’s ‘sex texts’ scandal. 

F1 Red Bull team principal, Christian, 50, has been the subject of intense speculation after he was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee before the start of the 2024 season.

He had been cleared of allegations of ‘coercive behaviour’, but has been fighting for his future after flirtatious text messages apparently exchanged between him and the female complainant were divulged to 149 F1 figures.

Geri was spotted attending the Commonwealth Day Service in London on Monday after supporting her husband at both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prixs. 

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 staged another public show of unity with Christian as she watched his team charge to victory with another one-two finish in Jeddah earlier this week.

Although the pair were seen cosying up again in front of the cameras, insiders claim that the leaked texts scandal ‘has been tough on her’.

Last week, Christian’s accuser was suspended on full pay as a direct result of Red Bull’s inquiry because she was reportedly ‘dishonest’ when giving evidence.

As the spotlight continues to glare on the couple, a source close to them told The Sun: ‘It’s been tough but Geri has been a rock for Christian through all this and he has spoken out about how much that means to him.

‘There was no question of her staying away from Saudi – that would have sent entirely the wrong message.’

Christian also faced reporters in a press conference on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s race and admitted that the scandal had taken its toll on his family, while fending off questions on the woman at the centre of it.

He also said his wife had been ‘hugely supportive’ but admitted the scandal had been ‘very trying’ on his family.

‘It’s obviously been a very trying period,’ he said. ‘I’m married and have three children. And when that intrusion includes your children and the scrutiny that is placed upon your marriage.

‘I’m very fortunate that I have a beautiful family and very supportive wife. Of course, It’s very trying, it’s very challenging. When there’s children involved, parents, families, it’s not pretty.’

He added that the grievance had been ‘dealt with in the most professional manner’ by Red Bull’s parent company GmbH, which had appointed one of the top ‘KCs in the land’.

After fielding a barrage of questions of the topic, he called for the invasion into his private life to cease and attention turned towards racing.

‘The intrusion on my family is now enough,’ he said. ‘We need to move forward. It’s time now to focus on why we’re here, which is to go Formula One racing.’

Friends of the star claimed last week that it it would ‘break her heart’ to end her marriage to Christian — the man she sees as the ‘Prince Charming’ she has longed for since she was a little girl.

It’s believed that the scandal put the couple’s marriage ‘in question for the first time’.

Friends close to Geri, who stood by her husband of nine years resolutely throughout the internal probe, revealed she had ‘the meltdown to end all meltdowns over the leaks’.

The mother-of-two has been left ‘feeling humiliated’ after the messages were spread ‘so widely out there’, a friend added.

Hundreds of intimate WhatsApp exchanges purportedly between Horner and the colleague were released via an anonymous email account.

Geri had told friends that she was ‘relieved and elated’ that the claims against her partner ‘had finally been cleared’.

Friends of the Spice Girl told the Mail she thought the scandal had ‘finally gone away’ but have warned the appearance of the intimate messages – to which there are 79 screenshots – could ‘destroy’ her.

One said: ‘All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’

Another said he now fears for how the star, who has been left mortified at the embarrassing fall out, will be able to comprehend such a public humiliation.

He said: ‘Geri has been living in this happy, happy bubble for so many years now, she thought she had her prince and her knight in shining armour but now this.

‘She thought that it had all gone away, she was delighted and over the moon when she learned Christian had been cleared.

‘Geri was pilloried when she got together with Christian because he had just had another baby with another woman but she has worked hard to rid that image of herself and Christian, and in particular that she is a homewrecker.

‘Now it has all come crashing down. The tears stopped when the judgment came in on Wednesday, now they absolutely will have started again. This will destroy her. All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’

The couple 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 Geri in an advertisement in the The Times in 2014.

The couple tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015 and welcomed son Monty in January 2017.

Geri also shares daughter Bluebell 17, with her screenwriter ex Sacha Gervasi, who she split from before giving birth.