The one about...Scary Spice
There’s no other Spice Girl with the effervescence of the B! We’ve had the best of times over the years. Here’s a showbiz tale about us.
Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!
Out of the five girls Mel B truly encapsulates the vibe of Girl Power with true force. She’s fun, unpredictable and a genuine girl from Leeds.
Over my years as a journalist we enjoyed many a night out. I went to Vegas to see her perform in Peep Show at Planet Hollywood, we played at the Oscars many a time and generally everytime we would hang you’d never quite know where the night would end up. One time we went to STK and a drunk American approached her and said she was her favourite Spice Girl “because I didn’t like that skinny posh one”. Mel nearly lamped her. “Oi, don’t be saying that about another woman and one of my girls,” she said as I literally grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her marching off for a bargey with this US ‘fan’.
Ferociously loyal, Mel B loves being a Spice Girl. She’s notorious for permanently being ‘ready’ to tour and rejoin the band. The fact she often says the girls are getting back together is the bane of the rest of the band’s life. You’ll often hear her say: “I’m going to get into trouble saying this…” and then she reveals news that spreads across the internet like wildfire. She once told me she would drop these nuggets hoping the other girls would get the message that they had to plan a reunion tour. Classic.
When I was in LA working in award’s season she forced me up early to join her at a Barry’s Bootcamp session – which she did all the time.
She was on the adjoining bench, I was a total novice and shocked to the core (I wasn’t fit in those days) and as I attached one of the bands to my foot for a floor exercise it slipped off and smacked me in the face. All I could hear was that trademark Mel B laugh as I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment.
She’d obviously also told the trainer I was “Dean from London” and the trainer continually jabbed me with screeches of: “Come on, Dean from London. You got this.” It was a hoot of a workout session.
Then there was the time I was at the Mayfair Hotel with my friend at the time, Peaches Geldof. Peaches was obsessed with the Spice Girls and asked if I could invite Mel and her party up to the Penthouse Suite where we were enjoying drinks after a shoot. The drinks were flowing and as I returned to the loo Peaches was pinned up against a wall with Mel fully under her t-shirt feeling her boobs. In her best Mel B voice she announced: “Ooooooh Peaches, you’ve got luuuuvvvverly tits.” Peaches was white as a ghost and panicked, but that story remained one of her favourite stories to dine out on, obviously. She got Mel B’d.
Now, there was a lot of fun. But one thing I really wanted to talk about with Scary was what she’s done with her life since she managed to get out of the marriage to Stephen Belafonte. You see, like many people who knew her I felt a lot of guilt when she finally left him, and she was “free”.
We knew it was going on. We knew she couldn’t get out. I saw the pain. The man had so much control upon her, and she was trapped.
The worst thing with Melanie was knowing it was happening to a woman that was so strong. In fact, her entire image was built on being a strong independent woman who breathed Girl Power.
There was one infamous night with her in London where my phone went out of the blue and it was Mel. She was in London solo signing her X Factor contract and meeting Simon Cowell. I was at the O2 at the time watching Katy Perry and after the show I went to her at the K West hotel in Shepherd’s Bush, and we shared a bottle of wine (or two) well into the wee hours. Just us, no drama, no headaches from Stephen but then at about 2am in the morning her iPad rang, and it was Stephen. He always insisted on calling her on a video so he could see what was happening. She freaked out when he started calling. “I’m supposed to be asleep,” she said. “What do I do. I don’t know what I should do, Dean.”
You take the call, I told her. Make it look like you’re in bed. We turned all the lights down and she took the call. I sat there for over an hour where she had told me “not to make a sound” as Stephen wanted to know a run-down of her day and what she was doing now. I was sat there thinking firstly, I was pretty hammered to be sat still and quiet for over an hour. And secondly, I needed a pee and the bathroom was past the bed. GREAT. I nearly pissed my pants. I also very much needed to get out of there. It was late.
She eventually managed to come off as the iPad died. But when she came back, she was anxious and erratic. She’d been shook by the call. That man really had the worst level of control over her entire life. She called me the day after saying she’d not been able to sleep and her anxiety was through the roof as she was boarding her flight back to LA.
Looking back at it we all knew that he was a wrong-un and she wasn’t in a good way. The problem was we didn’t know how to help. Stephen was always there. Ensuring you didn’t get much time on your own with her. All I wish looking back is there was a “blink twice for danger” and she’d blinked to show what was happening and we’d been able to get her out. Only a few months later she ended up appearing on X Factor bruised and battered and was even in hospital because of her injuries.
I’m so thankful she was able to escape the clutches of Stephen.
Since the end of her time with Stephen, she’s become a pillar of the domestic abuse community and was even awarded an MBE for her work with Women’s Aid. How cool is that? For her to be using her own traumatic story to help other women. The honesty she’s shown with her autobiography Brutally Honest is brilliant and the ENDLESS press to promote the book that she penned with journalist and manager Louise Gannon has been great to watch.
Having to relive the terror of that marriage and the man that took her to the cleaner’s money wise. She’s an inspiration with the way she’s managed to claw herself back onto the road for success.
The one word that comes to mind with Mel B nowadays is RESPECT. Good on her for getting through it all and finding the light. She’s got a new man, preparing for marriage, has control of her own destiny and a lovely well brought up troop of kids.
Also Melanie, like so many – I’m sorry for not doing more to help you.
Nothing but love for the KWEEN B.
Until next week, Kids. Geri and Emma left!