Mel B moved back into her mother’s house after leaving her “abusive” relationship.
The former Spice Girl has opened up about moving from California to her mother’s home in England after feeling “powerless” following her split from ex-husband Stephen Belafonte.
Mel has claimed she left the marriage after suffering emotional, physical and financial abuse at the hands of the film producer.
In a new interview with the BBC, the Wannabe hitmaker explained that she moved into her mum Andrea’s house in Leeds after spending a considerable amount of money on legal fees and payments to Stephen, who has repeatedly denied her claims.
“I wasn’t just emotionally and physically abused, there was all the financial abuse too,” the singer, 48, told the outlet. “I didn’t realise that I didn’t have as much money as I thought I had. So I literally had to eat humble pie, live with my mum.”
She continued, “My mum was the kind of person that would say, ‘Oh you’ve left him now, you’re fine’. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Mel noted that although she was able to leave the allegedly abusive relationship, she had to start “all over again”.
“Obviously any situation is better than being with your abuser, but when you’ve left that kind of abusive situation, it’s like starting all over again,” she explained. “You have to learn to trust people. You have to learn to trust yourself.”
The former couple, who married in 2007, finalised their divorce in 2018, one year after reaching a private out-of-court settlement.
As part of the settlement, the Spice World star was ordered to pay the producer $350,000 (£274,000) as well as $5,000 (£3,900) a month in child support for their 12-year-old daughter, Madison.
Mel also has two daughters, Angel, 16, and Phoenix, 25, from previous relationships.
