Geri Halliwell discusses bikini fears

Geri Halliwell has admitted that she feels self-conscious when she wears a bikini in public.

The Spice Girl discussed her insecurities after stripping off for her first bikini photoshoot in seven years, which appears in the new edition of Hello! magazine.

Halliwell revealed that posing for the pictures was the best way for her to leave behind her body hang-ups and embrace her figure.

"People think I'm really confident but I do get self-conscious like many women about stripping off in public," Halliwell told the magazine. "I haven't been willingly photographed in a bikini for seven years - and I don't think I'll do it again.

"At the moment, I'm a bit curvier, having done the tour, so it was a big mental step forward for me to show my natural self, rather than my worked-out, honed self. Obviously, I'm still vain, that's still in there. I wanted to look my best and I wore a bit of fake tan but what woman wouldn't if they're being honest?

"I did strive to have my most perfect body and, in moments when I lack confidence, that voice is always there waiting to tell me, 'You are not good enough, do better,' but I'm more conscious of it. It used to be the loudest voice in my head but now I just tell it, 'Shut up.'"

Halliwell recently announced that she has quit the music industry and will continue her career as a children's author.