Mel B has revealed how, despite earning millions of dollars in her career, she was compelled to return to live with her mother.
The 48-year-old performer rose to prominence as a member of the Spice Girls, where she was known as Scary Spice.
With over 100 million albums sold globally, they were the best-selling female group of all time.
In subsequent years, she served as a judge on a number of reality television shows, including The X Factor, America’s Got Talent, The Voice Kids Australia, and The Masked Singer Australia.
However, upon her divorce, her estimated net worth of £38,000,000 evaporated.
Mel has finally told exactly what occurred and how she ended herself with nearly nothing.
Mel was in a relationship with film producer Stephen Belafonte for ten years, from 2007 to 2017, and the couple welcomed daughter Madison in 2011.
However, when Mel filed for divorce, she accused him of mental and physical assault.
In court, it was later revealed that their ‘extravagant and luxurious’ lifestyle had ‘wiped away’ the money she had earned from the Spice Girls, which was believed to be roughly £38.3 million.
Mel returned to Leeds from Los Angeles and moved into her mother’s cottage following their split.
The decision happened during the Spice Girls’ sold-out stadium tour in 2019.
Despite the fact that the concerts were lucrative, Mel’s part was going to legal bills and payments to her ex-husband.
Mel stated that she experienced not just mental and physical violence, but also financial abuse.
‘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 told BBC.
Reflecting on that time, Mel said she had to ‘start all over again’.
As part of a settlement with her ex, Mel had to pay Belafonte a lump sum plus child support for their daughter.
Mel has said returning to Leeds ‘definitely’ helped her find her feet, and this month revealed that after working ‘bloody hard’ for more than five years, she’d been able to buy her own home.
‘I’ve been looking at houses on and off for the last couple of years, knowing I didn’t have the money to afford them,’ she shared.
‘But I just put my head down, worked and lived frugally and hence I’ve been able to buy my own house.’
Regardless of her past net worth, Mel stated that she needed to relearn how to ‘live frugally’ and begin purchasing on a budget.
‘I still love shopping in Aldi and Lidl, I don’t think I’m ever going to stop doing that to be honest,’ she added.
Belafonte has frequently disputed the singer’s charges against him.
Mel became a patron of Women’s Aid in 2018 and has since advocated for domestic violence survivors.
She said she now uses her platform as to be a ‘voice for all of the other survivors out there that don’t have a voice’.
Earlier this month Mel said she would go from ‘performing to thousands at Wembley on the Spice Girls’ 13-date Reunion Tour in 2019 to squeezing into my mum’s with my kids sleeping in bed with me.
‘I didn’t expect that to happen in my 40s after a successful career, but I had nowhere else to go,’ she told The Sun.
She went on to say that she was forced to ‘pick up the pieces’ of the divorce and custody battles, which left her with £700 in the bank.
Who to call if you need help
For emotional support you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline, run by Refuge and Women’s Aid, on 0808 2000 247.
If you are in an LGBT relationship you can also call the helpline run by Broken Rainbow and Galop UK, on 0300 999 5428 or 0800 9995428.
Male victims can call also the Men’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0327.
Source My Celebrity Life.