Mel B’s €2m payout to her nanny lover
Deal avoids spicy court showdown
MEL B has avoided an embarrassing court showdown set to reveal details of her wild bisexual sex life.
The Spice Girl has agreed an estimated €2.1million deal to stop a defamation trial brought by her former nanny, who was also her secret lover for seven years.
The settlement with Lorraine Gilles prevents any details of the singer’s relationship, past lovers and turbulent relationship with her former husband, Stephen Belafonte, from being made in court.
Both Mel and Gilles along with lawyers agreed that “keeping the matter under wraps was best for all”, after a two-year legal battle.
The Leeds-born star could have faced a potential bill of almost €5.8million in damages and legal costs if she had lost the court case.
One business associate of Mel, 43, says another factor was to stop her star friends like Simon Cowell, fellow Spice Girls and Heidi Klum having to be called as witnesses at the LA Superior Court if the case had gone ahead.
For Geri Horner, 46, it means she will not have to answer questions about any intimate relationship with Mel under oath after recent allegations of a fling between the pair. The deal also stops mum-of-three Mel – who is currently rehearsing for the Spice Girls’ Spice World tour, which starts next month – from facing ex Belafonte in person.
In her divorce declaration against Belafonte, Mel branded Gilles a “prostitute” and alleged her ex-husband got the nanny pregnant and coerced her into threesomes. Both Belafonte, 43, and Gilles, 28, denied Mel’s claims. Despite the once bitter nature of the lawsuit, the pair agreed to “go their separate ways and not bad mouth each other”.
Last night our source said: “Mel was just happy to clear this mess up once and for all.
“Things were said in court papers in the heat of a divorce, which exploded into this lawsuit. But in recent weeks their frost has thawed, with them meeting to work out their differences.”
The source added: “After the Geri controversy, the last thing she wanted was the rest of the band on the stand being probed all about her sex life.”
Last year a star-studded court battle was essentially green-lit by judges at the Supreme Court, who rejected Mel’s final appeal against the libel case.
Judge Dalila Lyons has tried to push the parties to settle away from court.
The last thing Mel wanted was the rest of the band on the stand A BUSINESS ASSOCIATE OF SPICE GIRL MEL B