The Spice Girls look set to reunite next year.

Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Mel C and Mel B will reportedly reform for an international tour, without former band member Victoria Beckham.

Next year sees the 20th anniversary of the band's debut single Wannabe which was released in 1996 and catapulted the five-piece to global stardom. And rumours of an anniversary reunion have been circulating for some time.

Although Bunton appeared to cast doubt on the claims by saying on her Heart London radio breakfast show "Nothing's happening at the moment", she later retweeted a message from The Sun reporter Dan Wooton, who wrote: "To people saying Emma 'denied' story this AM. She didn't. But no official announcement will come until later this year."

Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and representatives for Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Mel C and Mel B were unavailable for comment.

Mel C, aka Sporty Spice, tweeted: "Woke up this morning wondering whether I need to start practising my backflips???!!!"

Bunton, known as Baby Spice, added: "Do I need to put my pigtails in?!?!?"

Beckham, who became known as Posh Spice, posted a picture of an official Spice Girls photo album on Twitter, including the hashtag #TBT which stands for "Throwback Thursday" and is used when people post old photos on social media.

She wrote: "love my Spice Girls."

And Mel B shared a picture of herself as Scary Spice on Instagram with the caption "The world deserves to hear your voice! #BeLoud #Tbt"

Halliwell, who celebrated her birthday on Thursday, is yet to comment.

Together Ginger, Posh, Baby, Scary and Sporty sold more than 75 million records and had nine number ones. Their debut album, Spice, made them the fastest-selling British act since the Beatles.

The group were introduced to royalty, pictured with Nelson Mandela and performed with operatic heavyweight Luciano Pavarotti.

But despite their rapid success, relations within the group became increasingly fractious.

Halliwell quit the band in 1998. The group continued as a quartet for a time but by 2001 they had dissolved and were working on their solo careers.

After much speculation they reformed for a money-spinning 47-date tour which began in 2007. As it closed, the girls acknowledged there would be no more.

But the quintet reunited to perform together again at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

They also gathered together to launch a stage musical inspired by their songs called Viva Forever.

Each has gone on to find a measure of success in their own right, juggling their careers with motherhood.