Australia's Got Spice, anyone? Geri Halliwell will join the judging panel on Nine's Australia's Got Talent. It's an old television cliche, but Nine's signing of Ginger Spice to replace Scary Spice on its reboot of Australia's Got Talent is officially the worst kept secret in TV. Fairfax tipped it almost two weeks ago, after conversations with well-placed sources. Nine denied the story, as the TV industry's PR 101 playbook compels them to, but if those same sources are to be believed, Ginger Spice was on standby while the lawyers were still duking out the contract dispute between Seven and Nine over ownership of Scary. Old Spice: Mel B will be replaced by Geri Halliwell. Nine lost that fight and now Scary, real name: Melanie Brown, has to remain with Seven until the end of her contract - January, 2014. Ginger, real name Geri Halliwell, will now be the fourth of AGT's four judges. The other three will be Dawn French, Timomatic (real name: Tim Omaji) and Kyle Sandilands. Nine's reboot will be hosted by comedian and actress Julia Morris. Truth be told, it is customary for a TV network to negotiate with a range of contenders when securing talent for shiny floor shows. Both Seven's The X Factor and Nine's The Voice, for example, have met with dozens of stars, or their managers, with a view to the possibility of taking a seat on stage. Seven let its rights to Australia's Got Talent lapse. They felt the format was tired, though in pure ratings terms most of its depletion came from a head-to-head strike with The Voice and not the television equivalent of old age. A fight between the networks was not surprising. The ratings war between Seven and Nine is particularly bloody at present, and Seven is fighting hard against the perception that Nine is clawing back ground. In truth it's not as simple as that. Nine has indeed regained ground but Seven's hold is still strong. Some of the perception may only be purely that, but in an industry like TV perception is everything and can, to some extent, sway the outcome. The game-changing moment for Seven, however, was not Nine poaching Scary Spice, but rather its coup in securing British comedian Dawn French. That was actually the moment that Nine's AGT went from a risky gamble to a genuine threat, particularly because French's audience is so perceptibly "Seven." Her hit comedy, The Vicar of Dibley, for example, has long been a staple of Seven's schedule. Seven may have easily brushed off Nine's acquisition of AGT as a rival trying to fight with second-hand goods. With French's participation assured, the media buzz around AGT went almost immediately from uncertain to positive. Nine will launch its re-vamped AGT, with Halliwell, French, Sandilands, Timomatic and Morris later this year. Seven has also confirmed The X Factor will return with four judges - two returning judges Ronan Keating and Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and two additions Dannii Minogue and Redfoo. Seven has not articulated its plans, if it has any, for Brown. She is currently filming America's Got Talent and would not be available until mid-year.