THIS is the picture that shows how far a 19-year-old wannabe can go if she puts her mind and body to it.
The stunning nude photo of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell was taken six years ago on the island of Majorca by top Spanish cameraman Sebastian Amengual.
And it set the stunning blonde on the road to becoming a sex icon for the Nineties.
It was nightclub dancer Geri's first attempt at a glamour shoot - but you'd never guess it from the smouldering look she throws back at the camera.
The sight of her beautiful form stretched out on a bathing towel left the hugely experienced Amengual speechless. he was still trying to recover from an earlier shot of Geri in a skimpy black outfit with thigh-high, high-heeled boots.
He says; "I had to catch my breath, she looked so fantastic. I have never seen a body like it. I was fighting to control myself.
"she was so sexy. I just thought: 'Oh my God.' I have photographed many girls but they are all so skinny. geri had a fantastic figure with huge breasts. I am used to naked girls but she was special."
Geri knew she was special, too - it was the sharp-witted beauty's persistence that led to Sebastian driving her to a deserted Palma factory site for the photo session.
Today her single-minded pursuit of wealth and fame has paid off. The Spice Girls are enjoying incredible success after a string of chart hits starting with Wannabe, and are now taking the US by storm.
For Watford-born Geri - dubbed Sexy Spice - it's not so much a dream come true as an ambition realised. Even all those years ago back in Majorca, she knew exactly what she wanted out of life.
When Sebastian walked into the Magaluf nightclub where she worked as a dancer, Plan A went into operation. Men gawped as they watched Geri's curvy body gyrate on the dance floor. But the teenager was interested in one man only - Sebastian. Geri knew he was looking for a fresh-faced unknown for a magazine shoot and she was determined to be that girl.
HE CHOSE her dancing pal Kelly Smith instead. "But Geri was determined," says Sebastian.
"She sidled up to me, game me a cheeky smile and said: 'Please do some photos for me as well'."
At 5ft 2ins, "Little Geri" as she was nicknamed had hardly any chance of making it as a model.
"She was so small," says Sebastian, 29. "I needed a tall, slender model. But she had a fantastic body. Geri wouldn't take no for an answer. She was so persistent. She told me she wanted to be famous and she would try anything. She begged me to take the photos. She kept on until I agreed. I warned her she would have to model topless but she said she didn't care."
Geri was barely out of college - she had just finished a two-year travel and tourism course - when she turned up at Magaluf's BCM club in April 1991.
A talent scout had seen her dancing in a London nightspot and told her about the club which attracted chart-topping bands, top dancers and world-famous DJs.
For hours, Geri practised her dance steps in front of her bedroom mirror, putting together her own routines. Like Madonna, she wore lacy gloves and sexy underwear over fishnet tights. She had incredible energy and could dance for hours.
She turned up at the club and demanded to speak to manager Tony Palmeri, 46.
"She told me I wouldn't be disappointed," he says. "I gave her a week's trial but after one night I realised that cheeky, saucy style of hers was going to pull in the crowds.
"One day she would be dressed from head to toe in leather. The next day she was in a giant red wig."
DJ Des Mitchell adds: "Geri took the nightclub by storm, flirting with the DJs, pinching their bottoms of blowing kisses at the boys in the crowd. She would dress in clingy crop tops and hipsters or in basques and suspenders. And every night she gyrated her body in one of the small cages hung 10ft above the dance floor. Geri had star quality even then. In days she had a group of fans begging for dates and autographs.
"The other girls were jealous of the attention she got but Geri wasn't interested in the men. If anyone went too far, she would put him down with a sharp retort. Or deliberately tease him by lifting her skirt and flashing her knickers."
Despite all the adulation Geri, whose Spanish-born mum Anna Maria is a shopping centre cleaner, wanted more out of life.
Born Geraldine Estolle Halliwell on August 6, 1972, she was the youngest of five children. When she was nine, her parents divorced. Dad Laurence died three years ago.
Full of energy and often in trouble for talking too much in lessons, Geri was very popular at school. She longed for singing and dancing lessons but unlike the other Spice Girls, her parents couldn't afford them.
At Watford Girls School she became very conscious about her size and worried she would be too under-developed to become famous.
ONE classmate recalled how Geri was teased because she was so skinny and flat-chested.
"When she was 17, though, she put us all to shame. She suddenly developed curves and the boys went for her."
Leaving school with one A-level pass in English Literature, Geri worked in bars and shops, wondering how to become a star. For four years she tried everything she could think of to get herself noticed, from a Turkish TV show to a Pink Floyd backing video.
She even scraped together £300 for demo tapes of her singing.
Then came the job in Majorca and the photo shoot that left Sebastian Amengual convinced he'd found a rare beauty.
Geri posed for him on several occasions, gaining confidence each time. Once he took her to a deserted rocky bay near the village of El Torro.
Geri - who had dyed her hair jet black - changed into a pink G-string bikini. She took off her top and leaned back over a rock - then burst out laughing.
Sebastian says: "A group of soldiers were staring at Geri through their binoculars. She was really cool about it."
Later that afternoon Sebastian taught her some of the tricks of the glamour model trade - such as pouring cold mineral water over her chest to make her nipples hard.
She stayed at the BCM Club for two weeks after the photo shoot before returning to Watford. The summer season was over.
But for Geri it was more than a summer job. It was part of her grand scheme to be a star.
"Geri never got drunk or really let herself go. There was always some reserve," says DJ Des Mitchell. "She was never the life and soul of the party.
"She worked very hard at her dancing. Everyone knew she wanted to be famous. This was the first stepping stone." Geri returned to Watford - and began a punishing exercise regime that would turn her into the 32E-23-33 stunner she is today. For two gruelling hours a day she trained with sports coach Ray McKenna.
"I couldn't believe how determined she was," says Ray, 21. "She said: 'I'm going to be famous and I want my body to be perfect.'
"It was already pretty good. Her bum was fantastic but she was worried about her stomach and upper arms.
"At 6.45 every morning we ran for 45 minutes. It was often dark, cold and raining but Geri would never complain. She was more dedicated than anyone I know. She was so fit and had amazing stamina. After a run, we went back to her flat. She stripped down to a leotard for exercises and weights. She could do 100 sit-ups without a problem."
While other girls enjoyed drinking and dating, Geri concentrated on stardom.
Ray, who trained her between 1992 and 1994, says: "At 9am on New Year's Day, she rang to ask me to open the gym. I could hardly drag myself out of bed. I had been seeing in the New Year - Geri stayed in.
WE DID a two-hour workout. She really enjoyed it but as soon as I got home I collapsed into bed."
Geri took her fitness craze a step further by starting her own aerobics class. Former Opus Gym manager Liam Fitzgerald recalls; "Geri was a publicity machine for my gym. She always wore a G-string leotard over a tight tee-shirt.
"Men came just to watch her. When she jumped up and down, they steamed up the glass panel wall. I removed it in the end because we had to clean it so much.
"Everyone fancied her but she was brilliant at verbal judo and could put men down without being cruel. No one dared ask her out.
"After class, she always had a sauna wrapped in a little towel. It was a scrum to get in with her."
On April 28, 1994, Geri walked into a London studio after seeing an advert for an all-girl band in the magazine Stage.
Ian Lee, 50, the man who helped groom the Spice Girls, says: "She was bubbly, loud and 100 percent determined.
"Geri was stunning with a fantastic body - just what we were looking for. "She couldn't sing in tune but could dance a little.
"When we asked how old she was, she simply said: 'I'm as old or as young as you want me to be. I can be a 10-year old with big tits if you want."
Geri got the job.
