sport news Geri Halliwell lands in Bahrain on a private jet to meet Christian Horner - ... trends now

Geri Halliwell has landed in Bahrain on a private jet to meet Christian Horner - having taken off before the 'leaked texts' email - as the Red Bull chief was hauled in for crisis talks with F1 bosses. 

Mail Sport understands the former Spice Girl left the UK yesterday before the delivery of an incendiary email that claims to expose flirtatious WhatsApp exchanges between her husband and a female employee. 

She touched down in the Middle East last night and is said to have gone 'into meltdown' over the messages. 

Horner, 50, was cleared to continue as Red Bull team principal on Wednesday following an internal probe into claims of 'coercive behaviour', which he has always denied. 

But just 24 hours later, texts apparently exchanged between him and the complainant were sent from an anonymous email to 149 F1 figures - leading friends to warn that his marriage to Geri was 'in question for the first time'. 

Halliwell, who flew over on property billionaire Tony Gallagher's plane for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix tomorrow, has not yet been seen in the paddock. 

One insider told Mail Sport: 'She took off before the email landed. I don't know whether she will be at the race but it will be mayhem if she is.

'It would be nuts. She may even be flying home.'

As she arrived, her husband has pulled from the pit wall into a meeting with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. 

The couple had breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday when Red Bull cleared Horner of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour allegations following a probe into his alleged relationship with the employee.

But on Thursday, a series of WhatsApp texts and photographs were released to dozens of journalists and key figures in sport, throwing the scandal back into the public into the spotlight once again.

Horner vowed to fight on within hours of the scandal deepening, and was today pictured in his Red Bull gear ahead of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which begins tomorrow. 

It comes as friends close to Halliwell, who stood by her husband of nine years resolutely throughout the internal probe, revealed she is 'having the meltdown to end all meltdowns over the leaks'.

The mother-of-two has been left 'feeling humiliated' after the messages were spread 'so widely out there', a friend added.

Hundreds of intimate WhatsApp exchanges purportedly between Horner and the colleague were released via an anonymous email account.

Horner was only cleared by Red Bull's Salzburg-based parent company - and told he could stay on as team principal of the world-championship on a £8million-a-year-salary - 24 hours before the texts dropped.

Halliwell had told friends that she was 'relieved and elated' that the claims against her partner, with whom she shares seven-year-old son Monty, had finally been dropped.

Friends of the Spice Girl told the Mail she thought the scandal had 'finally gone away' but have warned the appearance of the intimate messages - to which there are 79 screenshots - could 'destroy' her.

One said: 'All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.'

Another said he now fears for how the star, who has been left mortified at the embarrassing fall out, will be able to comprehend such a public humiliation.

He said: 'Geri has been living in this happy, happy bubble for so many years now, she thought she had her prince and her knight in shining armour but now this.

'She thought that it had all gone away, she was delighted and over the moon when she learned Christian had been cleared.