Melanie Brown's Biography

Who is Mel B?

She studied dance as a youngster and won a Miss Leeds beauty contest, however it was not until she came to London and became part of The Spice Girls, together with Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm, that she shot to fame as Scary Spice and Mel B.

Geri Halliwell left The Spice Girls, but the girl band carried on. Meanwhile, Melanie Brown married dancer Jimmy Gulzar and they had a daughter Phoenix Chi.

Not long afterwards Melanie Brown and Jimmy Gulzar split up and she dated Max Beesley.

When the Spice Girls finally split up in 2001, Mel B had initial success as a solo artist, but her musical career on her won lacked longevity.

She moved to the USA and wrote her autobiography, Catch a Fire.

Melanie Brown gained acting work, most significantly in the theatre, including in Rent on Broadway in 2004.

The Daily Mail reported in an article entitled Mel B's lesbian flings and the real reason Eddie Murphy dumped her, that according to her friend Christa Parker:

"Mel had a two-year lesbian relationship with a film executive called Christine, she was pictured kissing in 2004."

Mel B went out with Eddie Murphy, however when she was pregnant he went on Dutch TV and not only said that they had split up but also queried whether he was the father of the baby to be.

In April 2007, Melanie Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown. It was only in August 2007 that Eddie Murphy acknowledged paternity.

Meanwhile, in the period in between, Melanie Brown married producer Stephen Belafonte on June 6, 2007.

Also in June 2007, the Spice Girls announced that they were reuniting for a world tour in December 2007 and January 2008.

In winter 2007, Melanie Brown partnered Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars.

Mel and Maksim did well and finished second on Dancing with the Stars.

In 2008, Mel B and Joey Fatone co-host the reality show The Singing Office.

In 2010, it was announced that Mel Brown would host the second series of Dance Your Ass Off on cable channel Oxygen.

In May 2010, it was announced that Mel B was to be in a Style Network reality TV series about her life with her husband Stephen Belafonte and her two daughters.

On 1 September 2011, Melanie Brown had a baby girl.

In 2014, she was a judge on the X Factor.

In 2016, Mel B became a co-host with Professor Green of Lip Synch Battle UK on Channel 5.

In the summer of 2016, it was announced that Melanie Brown was reuniting with Geri Horner and Emma Bunton to form a group known as GEM.

In November 2016, Mel B offered a $5,000 reward to catch the thief who broke into her car.

In 2017, Mel B filed for divorce from Stephen Belafonte citing irreconcilable differences.

In August 2018, Mel B revealed that she was going to rehab to have treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In 2019, the Spice Girls, without Victoria Beckham, had a reunion tour.

Subsequently, Mel B appeared on The Masked Singer and in 2022, she was awarded the MBE.