Spice Girls star Mel B has opened up about her decision to move her family from Los Angeles to her hometown in northern England in 2019, following her divorce from her second husband, Stephen Belafonte.
The 50-year-old British pop star, whose real name is Melanie Brown, was married to film producer Stephen Belafonte from 2007 to 2017, a marriage she described in a new interview as “horrible” and “coercively controlled.”
Belafonte — with whom Brown shares her youngest daughter, Madison — has vehemently and repeatedly denied her claims that he was abusive.
Two years after finalizing her divorce, Brown traveled back home to the U.K., bringing her three daughters: Phoenix, now 27, Angel, now 18, and Madison, now 14.
“My father was dying, and I hadn’t seen or spoken to him or my mum or anyone for a good part of nine years,” the singer told The Times of London in a new interview. “So I flew to England. My dad was in the hospice at death’s door, but thankfully he waited for me before passing away.”
When it came time to return to Los Angeles, Brown remembered: “Angel said [Brown affects an American accent], ‘Mommy, why are we going back to America when all your family’s here?’ I’m like, ‘OK, good point. But you’re all California kids, do you really want to move to London with all the different weather?’ They were like, ‘Yeah! But not London — Leeds!’”
Brown claimed that after her costly divorce from Belafonte, whom she has also accused of financial abuse during their relationship, she was left with only £700 to her name. She was forced to move into her mother’s bungalow with her children and dog.
Reflecting on the move, she said: “It was perfect, because then I had no choice but to mend the relationships with my mum, my sisters, my friends who didn’t know what I’d been going through. So it put our family back together.”
She now lives in a £2.2 million farmhouse, surrounded by 15 acres of forest, with her third husband, 37-year-old hairdresser Rory McPhee.
Brown, affectionately known as Scary Spice, first rose to fame in 1996 as a member of the Spice Girls, the Nineties girl group consisting of Victoria Beckham, Melanie C, Geri Halliwell, and Emma Bunton.
In January, Mel C teased that the group is closer to a reunion now than they have been in a “very long time.”
“I’m always keeping my fingers crossed,” she said during an appearance on Heart Breakfast.
Her remarks came amid excitement and speculation among fans of a highly anticipated reunion, which was sparked when Bunton celebrated her 50th birthday alongside bandmates Mel C, Beckham, and Halliwell.
The group last reunited in 2019 for a 13-date reunion stadium tour, albeit without Beckham.
“Looking back to 2019, when we did our stadium tour, Victoria wasn’t with us. So she has to have that experience,” Mel C said.
