Today, Mel B confessed she may have committed suicide and described how she “felt smothered” by the possibility of spending the Covid lockdown with her ex-husband.
The Spice Girl told an audience at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham how she “would have perished” if she had remained with her ex-spouse during the epidemic.
The Women’s Aid organisation, which supports victims of domestic violence, has the 47-year-old pop artist as a patron.
Following her departure from what she has characterized as an unhealthy relationship, Mel B finalized her divorce from TV producer Stephen Belafonte in 2017.
He has vehemently refuted claims that throughout their ten-year marriage, he mistreated the singer physically and emotionally.
This afternoon, Mel B made an appearance at a panel discussion at the Tory conference. She spoke about how a pledge to her dying father led her to eventually leave her marriage.
She said that she was worried that sharing her story would “ruin my career.”
She said, “As a Spice Female, I represent girl power.” And for ten years, I had no control over this man or the predicament I was in.
Women’s Aid’s hotline had 21,000 women waiting at one time during the Covid shutdown.
Mel B expressed her personal thoughts regarding the pandemic’s effects on victims of domestic violence in the following way: “I got this dreadful feeling during lockdown for ladies who were in violent situations.”
I genuinely felt as if I was going to die if I had been with my ex at that time.
If it hadn’t been for me dying myself or for him to murder me.
Because of the real lockdown, I wouldn’t have been allowed to go to work or even go about my daily activities, according to the speaker.
Mel B explained how she underwent a kind of hypnosis after ending her relationship so she could speak about the experience.
She said, “For months after I ended that relationship, if the door banged, I would simply jump out of my skin.”
Mel B, who has judged several TV talent competitions in recent years, was awarded an MBE by Prince William earlier this year for her contributions to charity organizations and disadvantaged women.
Additionally, she published a book named “Brutally Honest” that describes her relationship.
Mel B said to the audience at the Tory conference how speaking with her dying father gave her “the fortitude” to end her marriage.
He passed away while I was telling him, “Don’t you worry Dad, I will leave him,” she said.
That’s a terrible huge burden you’ve just placed on me, and I really do need to go, I thought.
Therefore, it became less about myself and more about doing it for my Dad, and that’s what gave me the courage.
The singer said that she had attempted suicide before, but added that she was “lucky” since “I know so many other men and women didn’t make it out alive.”
Every day, tens of thousands of women and men return to their abusers because they have children and are unable to support themselves.
Women’s Aid CEO Farah Nazeer, Safeguarding Minister Mims Davies, and Maggie Blyth, the first national police lead for violence against women and girls, all joined Mel B on the panel.
She put pressure on the government to enhance judges’ and courts’ track records in handling domestic abuse cases and the “traumatic” experience survivors go through while going through the legal system.
She described the Family Court and the “old-fashioned” judiciary as “a boy’s club.”