Spice Girl Mel’s mum hopes family rift will end following collapse of singer’s marriage
MEL B’s estranged mother expects to be reunited with the former Spice Girl now she is ending her turbulent marriage to Stephen Belafonte.
Mum-of-three Mel, 41, fell out with Andrea Brown, 60, eight years ago after she disapproved of the relationship.
Last night, a pal said: “Andrea believes now she will finally be reunited with Mel.
“The years have been long and hard and she paid a heavy price by not seeing her daughter and missing her granddaughters grow up.
“But she did what she did for the right reasons.”
Andrea spoke out against Belafonte in December 2014 when Mel, then an X Factor judge, missed the Saturday night episode and appeared the next evening with bruises and scratches.
Both Mel and Belafonte, who have been married for 10 years, denied accusations he had been violent towards her.
Meanwhile, friends claimed Mel hoped to have another baby last year but abandoned the idea as her marriage deteriorated.
Speaking in April last year, Mel said: “I do want to have a little boy at some point. He (Belafonte) would be a good dad to a boy.”
Mel cited “irreconcilable differences” in divorce papers filed in LA.
Yesterday, the singer was due to appear at a press launch for America’s Got Talent with fellow judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel.
NBC bosses postponed it until Monday, blaming the weather.
Sources said Mel decided to end the marriage after having a “moment of clarity” after losing her dad Martin to cancer this month.
It was claimed that the final straw for the singer was a string of blazing rows with Belafonte over her £40million fortune.
Sources also said the couple spent half their marriage in therapy as they desperately tried to make the relationship work.
Last month, Mel’s publicist played down reports that Belafonte was caught holding hands with a brunette in a New York restaurant.
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