Mel B: I took to drink to numb pain of bitter divorce

FORMER Spice Girl Mel B yesterday revealed she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder since the bitter breakdown of her marriage.

Melanie Brown, 43, whose divorce from TV producer Stephen Belafonte came through this month, admitted she has used alcohol to “numb the pain”.

She said: “The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me. I’ve been working with a writer on my book, Brutally Honest, and it has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life.

“I am being very honest about drinking to numb my pain but that is just a way a lot of people mask what is really going on.”

During the divorce case in Los Angeles, Brown claimed Belafonte – with whom she has a daughter Madison, six – had been physically and mentally abusive during their ten-year marriage.

He denied it and accused her of turning his stepdaughter Angel, 11, against him.

After her diagnosis, the America’s Got Talent star said she plans to get therapy but said it had to be in the UK “because I am very, very British”.

The Leeds-born star said she decided to open up to highlight the struggle of those with PTSD.

She said: “If I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will do.”