MEL B’S ENGAGED: ‘I FINALLY FEEL SAFE’
SCARY SPICE PUTS HER PAST BEHIND HER AS SHE FINDS LOVE ONCE MORE
Spice Girl Mel B is reportedly engaged to long-term boyfriend Rory Mcphee, and sources say the star has finally had her faith in men restored. The 34-year-old hairdresser from Leeds is said to have popped the question to Mel, 47, during a romantic break at Cliveden House hotel in Berkshire. It’s thought the couple had known each other for a while before they started dating three years ago, and that it was Rory who convinced Mel to give love one more go.
A source shared, “Mel is so happy. This is a big deal for her because she’s been through such a lot. It has taken a huge amount for a man to get her to believe in love again.”
The engagement is a big step for Mel, given that the star spent the last decade publicly overcoming the trauma of domestic abuse. In her 2018 memoir Brutally Honest, the mum of three – who was awarded an MBE for her work with charity Women’s Aid – documented the horror of her ten-year marriage to ex-husband Stephen Belafonte, who is father to her daughter Madison, 11. The star split from the film producer back in 2017 after accusing him of mental and physical abuse – something Stephen, 47, denies.
Last year, Mel admitted there were times she wasn’t sure she’d survive, saying, “You’re so embarrassed, and riddled with guilt, and worried that nobody’s going to believe you.”
And talking to Kate Ferdinand earlier this year, Mel’s eldest daughter Phoenix, 23, spoke about her mum’s marriage – opening up about witnessing the abuse and calling the day her mum left Stephen “one of the best moments” of her life. “Right away when my mum got married, I realised that it wasn’t an ideal household,” she said. “It was a very controlled environment, [and] there were a lot of rules.”
But with the past behind her and a wedding in the works, Mel finally has her happy ending. And it isn’t just Mel’s family who approve – it turns out her bandmates do, too, as our source reveals, “All the Spice Girls have met Rory and like him.”
‘She’s been through a lot’