Spice Girls discover 'family' more attractive than 'half empty halls'

The Spice Girls reunion tour has been truncated, with a slew of dates being deep sixed around the globe:

"Sadly, the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments for Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C and Victoria.

"It was announced in June that, as well as the Europe and the US, the girls planned to visit Australia, China, South Africa and Argentina.

Really sorry if we didn't get to see you this time round. We all have other commitments in our lives now, but who knows what will happen next

"Due to the phenomenal demand for tickets in the UK and the US, along with the touring logistics for such a massive production, it was not possible to fit everything in."

Those "other commitments" in the Spice Girls' lives - what would they actually be, then? Is the Australian Dancing With The Stars refusing to take 'no' for an answer from Geri? Has Mel B decided she needs to drive up and down Eddy Murphy's street bellowing DNA test results? Is Victoria thinking that, damn it all, 2008 is the year she needs to finally tackle Anthony Powell's A Dance To The Music Of Time, and no excuses?

The band will still play Toronto, a town which showed its enthusiasm for a Spice Girls visit by registering online; they'll now just not play any of the places which demonstrated their lack of enthusiasm for a visit by not being that interested.