Spice Girls' Mel B didn't know what Amazon was during abusive marriage

She and ex-husband Stephen Belafonte separated in 2017.

Dan Seddon
Updated ·2 min read
Mel B at the
Mel B on the America's Got Talent red carpet in September 2023. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
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Spice Girls' Mel B became so detached from the world during her marriage to ex-husband Stephen Belafonte that she didn't know what Amazon was.

Born Melanie Brown, Scary Spice divorced the Thank You For Smoking movie producer in 2017 after 10 years together, and was forced to move back in with her mum Andrea.

"People will assume, 'She's rich, she's a Spice Girl'. But I went 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. Because I was so badly affected financially from my relationship, I had to pick up the pieces," the singer told The Sun.

Read more: Mel B says Spice Girls including Victoria Beckham have 'something in the works'

In 2020 the coronavirus pandemic served as a reminder of just how deeply she'd fallen into reliance on Belafonte over the years.

"I would say to people, 'Do you know there is this service called Amazon that delivers to your door?' And they would be like, 'Of course!' But I didn't have access to a credit card during my relationship and was working 24/7," recalled Mel.

Mel B's estranged husband Stephen Belafonte accuses her of 'cocaine and alcohol addiction'
Stephen Belafonte and 'Scary Spice' were married for a decade. (Getty)

"I had always taken care of my own money but over time I didn't worry about money because in my eyes he was taking care of it. But afterwards I realised, 'Oh my God, I am going to have to start from scratch, Ground Zero.'"

Elsewhere in the interview, she confessed that menial tasks such as buying milk and learning "how much a packet of crisps costs again" felt like "reclaiming my power" after her divorce.

"It was Covid times and I would put on my face mask and no one would recognise me. I stood in a queue for the first time in a long time. No one batted an eyelid. After being in an abusive relationship for years you really have to rebuild yourself inside and out. Nobody can do that apart from you," said Mel.

Watch: Mel B has landed a job as a TV voiceover actress on a 'colourful' new children’s show