Melanie Brown had to crash on her mother's house and shop on budget as she suffered emotionally and financially after her bitter split from manager husband.
- February 25, 2024
AceShowbiz - Melanie Brown had to shop in budget stores after her split from Stephen Belafonte. The 48-year-old pop star has raked in more than £80 million during the course of her music career - but Mel's acrimonious split from her ex-husband has seen her return to her "Leeds roots" after living in Los Angeles for years.
"People will assume, 'She's rich, she's a Spice Girl,' " Mel - who filed for a divorce in March 2017, accusing her then-husband of emotional and physical abuse - told The Sun newspaper.
"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."
Mel has actually enjoyed living a more modest lifestyle since she returned to the UK. The Spice Girls star explained, "In LA I hadn't bought a pint of milk in years. But back home I would buy in bulk from Costco and got really into shopping in Aldi and Lidl."
"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."
Mel has managed to transform her life since her divorce, and she's really enjoyed "reclaiming [her] power." She shared, "After being in an abusive relationship for years you really have to rebuild yourself inside and out. Nobody can do that apart from you."
"Having to budget and learn how much a packet of crisps costs again kind of felt like me reclaiming my power. I felt I went back to my Leeds roots, and I have never forgotten where I came from."
