Is Ginger Spice really ill?

LONDON (AP) -- The Spice Girls are sticking to their story that Ginger is battling a bug.

That's what a spokesman for the band said, too. But the rumor mill cranked up Friday over the Spice Girls' future after Geri Halliwell failed to perform with the group for a second straight night.

A spokeswoman said Thursday that Ginger Spice's absence was caused by a stomach bug. But hours later, a spokesman said he could not comment on a report in the tabloid Sun that the fiery red-haired singer had walked out after a "blazing row," possibly for good.

"She's had to take a couple of days off, that's all I know. Beyond that I'm as in the dark as anyone," said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The British pop group performed Thursday in Oslo, Norway as a quartet, having also appeared without Halliwell on television Wednesday night in Britain.

The Spice Girls are scheduled to head for the United States next month for a 40-city tour. Halliwell's bandmates stuck to the story Thursday evening that she was simply ill.