Spice Girls star Geri Halliwell insists the girl group "didn't invent" their famous slogan "Girl Power".

The singer, along with Emma Bunton, Mel C, Mel B and Victoria Beckham, are gearing up for the release of musical extravaganza Viva Forever! - a stage show based on The Spice Girls' hit songs.

The group are famed for their slogan which became a social phenomenon, but Halliwell insists the phrase was around long before the Spice Girls started saying it.

Speaking to the Daily Mail she said: "We didn’t invent Girl Power, you know. People say we did, but it was around for a long time before us. I’ve been thinking recently that it probably goes back to Cleopatra. She was the head of Egypt but the Roman Empire tried to bring her down. She wasn’t having it."

The Spice Girls reformed for their hotly-anticipated performance at the London Olympics earlier this year, where Beckham - who has the nickname 'Posh Spice' - wowed crowds with her signature pouty look.

Bunton explained: "Around the Olympics everyone was saying, 'She’s not smiling', but that’s always been the case. Posh points and pouts – that’s what she does! It’s what she did in 1996 and it’s what she does in 2012, I don’t know why everyone is surprised."