Spice Girls cut short world tour

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The Spice Girls are cutting short their reunion world tour, blaming "family and personal commitments".

The UK band said they would end their tour in Toronto on 26 February, with planned shows in Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires being axed.

The shows had been originally scheduled for January but were postponed after the London leg of the tour was extended and will not now be rescheduled.

Reports had suggested a lack of interest in some of the cities.

The Spice Girls tour kicked off in Vancouver on 2 December and has also taken them to cities in the US, Spain and Germany.

'Phenomenal demand'

A spokesman for the group said: "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 Spice Girls' statement

"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."

A statement from the group thanked fans for coming to the shows, saying: "It was all so mad the first time round, so we've really been able to appreciate it properly this time.

"There have been so many highlights and good times that we know it will be hard to be apart after Toronto.

"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."

At the peak of their fame in the 1990s, the girl group sold 55 million albums and had nine UK number one hit singles.

They reformed last summer and the tour marked the first time all five had performed together since 1998.