Mel B has been a fixture of pop culture since the 1996 when she rose to international fame as one fifth of the uber-popular English girl group, the Spice Girls.
While Mel B, who became more commonly known as Scary Spice, has somewhat retreated from public life in the decades since (at least in comparison to the 90s), she has continued to make headlines with revelations of a rocky personal life.
Much of the revelations are about her previous marriage and the trials she endured both during and after it. The pop star was open about these struggles in her 2018 memoir, Brutally Honest, but for those who haven’t had the chance to read, here’s what we know about what happened to Mel B.
What happened to Mel B?
Concerns around Mel B’s wellbeing have resurfaced as of March 2024, following an interview published by BBC. Mel B revealed that in 2019, she was forced to move back into her mother’s home, leaving California to live in her bungalow in Leeds. This was because of the economic hardships Mel B faced following her tumultuous marriage to Stephen Belafonte.
“I didn’t realize that I didn’t have as much money as I thought I had,” Mel B said. “So I literally had to eat humble pie, live with my mum.” The financial struggles stemmed from her 2018 divorce from Belafonte, a film and television producer who she was married to for 10 years.
In her memoir Brutally Honest and in various interviews, Mel B has detailed the emotional, physical, verbal, and financial abuse she suffered at the hands of Belafonte. The singer was seen with bruises on her face and arms on various occasions, and later admitted to painting a false portrait of marital bliss to the media during their marriage. Belafonte has denied any allegations of abuse.
The divorce settlement required Mel B to pay Belafonte $350,000 plus $5,000 a month in child support for their daughter. After those bills piled up, Mel B returned to Leeds and revealed she has spent much of the time since being frugal and shopping at budget grocery stores like Aldi and Lidl. For all her past tribulations, however, things seem to be looking up for Mel B.
The musician told BBC that she has since saved up enough money to buy her own home, something she thought would “never be on the cards.” She is also engaged to hairstylist Rory McPhee, and is set to get married at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Elsewhere, Mel B has completed a mammoth Spice Girls reunion tour, appeared on The Circle, and called out James Corden, which is always a surefire path for success.
