Dad gave me strength to quit ‘abusive’ marriage... He’d be proud
Mel B ‘tells’ dead father of MBE
MEL B has visited her father’s grave to tell him about getting an MBE for her domestic violence campaign work – five years after he inspired her to leave what she claimed was an abusive marriage.
The singer, 46, revealed she promised dad Martin on his deathbed she would leave husband Stephen Belafonte.
Martin died aged 63 in March 2017 after an eight-year battle with blood cancer myeloma, and Mel got her divorce the following year, going on to campaign for vulnerable women with Women’s Aid.
Sharing a black-andwhite photo of her visit to the grave in Leeds, the Spice Girl said: “This was the moment
I told my dad about my MBE.
“On his deathbed I promised him I would leave my abusive marriage. He gave me that strength.
“He would be so proud. I’m overwhelmed, honoured and grateful, and as patron of Women’s Aid I will never stop this fight to stop abuse.” When Mel was
awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours, she said she was accepting it on behalf of women suffering abuse “in all shapes and forms”.
She added: “I also want to dedicate it to a good man: my dad. He started the journey I’ll be on for the rest of my life, trying to do as much as I can to raise awareness for domestic abuse. To go through such dark times and then to start coming into the light and speaking out for myself and other women has been at times incredibly painful but also unbelievably empowering.” Her 10-year marriage to film producer Belafonte ended in 2018, and in her memoir Brutally Honest she claimed she suffered abuse – which he has repeatedly denied. This year Mel starred in a short film exploring domestic violence through dance, inspired by the stories she heard as a Women’s Aid patron.