Mel B on rebuilding her life after her ‘abusive’ marriage
WORDS: ARIANA LONGSON. PHOTOS: GETTY, SHUTTERSTOCK
Her bubbly public persona, championing of girl power and nickname Scary Spice may have you believe she’s a force to be reckoned with, but during her marriage to Stephen Belafonte, Melanie Brown has admitted she felt ‘powerless’.
‘I was in an abusive marriage from 2007 to 2017,’ the singer has alleged in a new interview, although these are claims film producer Belafonte has denied. Mel explained, ‘I wasn’t just emotionally and physically abused, there was financial abuse too.’ She continued, ‘He had his claws in me mentally, financially, spiritually. He was micromanaging me, from what I wore to who I spoke to. I didn’t have a phone or credit card.’
Now, finally back on her feet and having reunited with her mum after ‘years’ of being estranged, Mel, 48, is determined to raise awareness, saying, ‘I’m the voice of all the other survivors out there that don’t have a voice.’
BREAKING FREE
A once close-knit family, Mel and her mum Andrea, 66, found themselves torn apart throughout Mel’s decade-long marriage. ‘I didn’t see or speak to my mum for years,’ Mel revealed, adding, ‘Before, I’d call her every single day without fail. It was horrible. I lost my best friend when I needed her more than ever.’
Despite their lack of contact, Andrea heartbreakingly shared, ‘I never went to bed without my phone… I thought if she ever got away from him I’d be her first call.’ While Mel, who has admitted, ‘I didn’t think I’d see her [mum] again,’ went on to explain, ‘In an abusive relationship you are slowly isolated from your friends and family… The abuser starts feeding you lies about your family.’ She added, ‘When you’re trapped in that kind of relationship there doesn’t seem to be a way out.’
MOVING FORWARD
Thankfully, there was a way out for Mel. In 2016, the year before she left Stephen, her eldest daughter Phoenix – from her first marriage to dancer Jimmy Gulzar – pushed her to contact and meet Andrea. ‘I was
