Mel B’s daughter Phoenix admits to having felt ‘relief’ after her mum left ‘abusive’ marriage

Mel B’s daughter has spoken candidly about watching her mother in an “abusive” marriage.

Melanie Brown, 47, from Leeds who is best known as Scary Spice, split from her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte in 2017.

She alledges that her former spouse emotionally and physically abused her during their 10-year marriage.

Phoenix Brown, 23, who is the oldest daughter of the former Spice Girl, says she will “never forget” the look of “relief” on her mother’s face when she finally left her marriage.

Stephen Belafonte, 47, has continued to vehemently deny the allegations made against him by his ex-wife.

Mel B recently appeared at a Tory Party conference to share her experiences of being in an “abusive” marriage, while calling on the government to do more to protect victims of domestic abuse.

Her daughter Phoenix appeared on Kate Ferdinand’s podcast Blended on an episode titled ‘Domestic Abuse’.

In the episode, Phoenix claimed she had spent her teenage years living in a “controlled” household whilst her mother was still married to her step-father.

Speaking about the allegations of domestic abuse, Phoenix also admitted that Mel B leaving her marriage to Stephen was one of the “best moments” of her life.

Phoenix told Kate about when they left the house they shared with Stephen Belafonte, saying: “It was a lot of weight lifted off our shoulders, it didn’t happen quickly but it happened eventually and it was one of the best moments just because of the face on my mum and the relief that I felt.

“Seeing [Mel’s] face was something I am never going to forget.”

Phoenix reflected on her mother’s 10-year marriage and alleged that at the time they lived together it was “very controlling”.

She claimed that the household wasn’t “normal” and said she would go to visit her father Jimmy Gulzar.

Being at her father’s house made her realise that something wasn’t right at Mel B’s home, but at the time she didn’t recognise it “specifically as abuse”.

The daughter of the former Spice Girl now works with Women’s Aid which aims to end domestic violence against women and children.

Phoenix said that although she wasn’t getting “hurt” and nothing “serious” was happening in the home, she had noticed the “uncomfortable tension” in the environment.

She explained: “I wouldn’t say I recognised specifically this is abuse or that I had a violent household, but I would say it was something that I was used to, especially growing up with two different parents and going to two different households.

“It was a very controlled environment, there were a lot of rules and that is something I wasn’t used to.

“Everything was happening very fast paced, so instead of asking a question about what was going on, I went to play basketball and I tried to separate myself and just hang out with my mum.”

Phoenix admitted she is “proud” of everything that she dealt with at the time, while also having to look out for her younger siblings during the “conflict”.

The 23-year-old said that she felt “very embarrassed” of her home and claimed that she would not invite friends over for sleepovers because she was “uncomfortable”.

She also admitted that she had had therapy to help deal with the “trauma” she allegedly experienced during her mother’s marriage.

”I don’t think therapy can help as much because it’s hard to explain to someone your whole entire past and expect them to help you out,” Phoenix added.

Melanie Brown has two other daughters, Angel, 15, who she co-parents with Eddie Murphy and Madison, 11, who is the daughter of Stephen Belafonte.