Mel B has revealed she was only left with £700 to her name and secretly shopped in Lidl to make ends meet after leaving her ‘abusive’ ex husband Stephen Belafonte.
The singer, 48, said the millions she made as part of the Spice Girls had dwindled down to just a few hundred after she walked away from her marriage to Stephen in 2018.
Over the years, Mel B, who was reported to boast a $30million net worth at the height of her fame, has accused him of physical, emotional, and financial abuse, claims he denies.
In a new interview, Mel said she would bulk buy on visits to Lidl and Costco and moved into her mother’s bungalow in Leeds while facing hefty legal fees amid their divorce battle.
She Lost Control of Her Fortune
It was a far cry from her Los Angeles lifestyle, where she says she completely lost control of her huge fortune.
‘In LA I hadn’t bought a pint of milk in years. But back home I would buy in bulk from Costco and got really into shopping in Lidl and Aldi,’ Melanie told The Sun.
‘It was Covid times and I would put on my face mask and no one would recognise me. I stood in a queue for the first time in a long time. No one batted an eyelid.’
The media personality learned to budget for herself once again and spent what money she had more wisely, saying she saw it as taking back her power after being in an abusive relationship.
How She Dealt With it
She said of the dark period in her life which was plagued by financial stress: ‘People will assume, “She’s rich, she’s a Spice Girl”. But I went from performing to thousands at Wembley on the Spice Girls’ 13-date Reunion Tour in 2019 to squeezing into my mum’s with my kids sleeping in bed with me.
‘I didn’t expect that to happen in my 40s after a successful career but I had nowhere else to go because I was so badly affected financially from my relationship, I had to pick up the pieces.’
Mel spent five years saving and moved into a converted farmhouse in West Yorkshire this month.
Her Fortune is Back
In addition to her work with the Spice Girls, Mel had built her fortune back up, gaining lucrative jobs on American television shows such as the US version of Strictly Come Dancing – Dancing with the Stars – and a judge on America’s Got Talent while living in Los Angeles.
She also appeared as a judge on The X Factor in the UK prior to moving back home for good.
