Mel B celebrates buying new home with own money after leaving abusive relationship

Spice Girls singer claimed that her ex’s ‘mission was to destroy me mentally spiritually and financially’

Mel B has celebrated buying a new house with her own money, seven years after her split from her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte, who she has alleged was abusive.

Belafonte has repeatedly denied the claims against him made by the singer. They reached a private settlement out of court.

The Spice Girls star, 48, said she was “overwhelmed” when getting the keys to her home.

She wrote on Instagram: “I want to share it with other survivors like me, coz all YOU survivors out there will know how emotional this moment is. Five mins ago a man arrived at my door with a set of keys. They are the keys to my new home. A house I bought with the money I’ve worked bloody hard to pay for…

“In 2019 I had to come back to Leeds with NOTHING in my bank account.

“The money from the Spice Girls tour went on ENDLESS lawyers fees his and mine. Still being drained by my ex, non-stop demands for more more more.”

Mel B, born Melanie Brown, claimed that her ex’s “mission was to destroy me mentally spiritually and financially”, adding that she “wasn’t gonna let that happen”.

Brown split from her film producer ex-husband Stephen Belafonte in 2017 after a decade.

In 2018, she published a book, Brutally Honest, in which she detailed in part the abuse she allegedly suffered while in a relationship with Belafonte.

Melanie Brown with her former husband Stephen Belafonte (Rick Findler/PA) (PA Archive)

In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Brown said: “I felt so much self-hate… I’d lied to so many people. Then I felt very angry that I’d let that person get away with all that for 10 years.”

She said her sense of shame was amplified due to how she was perceived by the public – as a confident, loud and outgoing woman, “Scary Spice” – and that she was still attempting to work out why it took her so long to leave the relationship.

“I tried to leave seven times, so you can imagine how desperate I was in those 10 years,” she said.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go, I didn’t have my own credit card, I didn’t have a car, I’ve got three kids, I was very on the edge of self-destruction.”

Brown, originally from Leeds, won five Brit Awards and scored nine UK number one singles alongside her fellow Spice Girls – Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Horner.

After the group went on hiatus in 2000, she established herself as a TV personality and talent show judge, with appearances on The X Factor, Celebrity Juice and America’s Got Talent.

She has also worked extensively with domestic violence charity Women’s Aid.