On the surface, Mel B would appear to have it all. Famous since her twenties when she was Scary Spice in the chart-topping girl group the Spice Girls, the charismatic singer-songwriter has symbolised confident girl power – which we see from her as a panellist on The Masked Singer.
But for at least a decade of her life, Mel found herself fighting for everything she had.
“I wasn’t honest with anyone out of fear or embarrassment..”
(Image: Supplied)During a turbulent relationship that she belatedly realised had “many red flags”, the star kept her suffering a secret, afraid to speak out for fear of what might happen next.
“I was living a lie,” Mel, 48, tells TV WEEK. “I wasn’t honest with anyone out of fear or embarrassment. I was separated from my family and friends.”
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She took refuge in her work – as a judge on the UK and Australian editions of The X Factor, as well as America’s Got Talent and Dancing With The Stars in Australia.
Mel B suffered in silence for a long time before speaking out.
(Image: Instagram)She hid her pain, but, eventually, found a way through as a result of spending time with her father Martin, who died of cancer in 2017. In her 2018 memoir Brutally Honest, Mel says his passing delivered both heartbreak and clarity.
“After he [her dad] took his last breath, I went back to America and got my kids,” she says. “I had to slowly build myself up again. But when you have kids, it’s what you have to do.”
In the years since, Mel’s resilience has prevailed. And while her story has inspired other women to speak up, she doesn’t call herself strong, just someone with the desire to not just survive, but thrive.
“I’m just an honest person,” she says. “It takes more willpower to be someone else. With me, now more than ever, what you see is what you get.”
After publishing her memoir, Mel feared its revelations could end her career.
“But thank God I did,” she says, adding that her work with British organisation Women’s Aid has been an ongoing source of support. “I feel incredibly comfortable with those women. They’re so strong.”
In the meantime, Mel is looking forward to a full life – one that includes a highly anticipated Spice Girls reunion.
“We’ll announce something this year, and it’ll involve all five of us,” she says. “But I can’t say anything, because I’m always the one who does and then gets in trouble. [Laughs] But we definitely want to come to Australia.”
“We definitely want to come to Australia.”
(Image: Getty)While the group split more than 20 years ago, its five members – Mel, Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Mel C and Geri Halliwell – are close.
“We were a lot younger then – and incredibly tired because we worked so much,” Mel says. “But we’re all parents now, so we have patience for each other. But I never tire of hearing or singing our songs. We wrote most of them ourselves, so it’s special that they’re still around.”
In preparation, Mel has warmed her vocals on stage and behind the desk on The Masked Singer. While she’s appeared as a singer three times, this season, she returns as a panellist alongside Chrissie Swan, Dave Hughes and Abbie Chatfield. But what does she prefer: performing or guessing?
“Guessing – because the costumes are incredibly heavy!” she says. “I’ve been a seahorse, a jellyfish and a glowing sun. They’re not simple costumes – and you often can’t see! [Laughs] But it always ignites my passion to perform.”
