An insider close to the couple has revealed that Mel B's estranged husband Stephen Belafonte was "enraged" by the Spice Girls singer's friendship with Cheryl whilst they judged on The X Factor together
It has been revealed that Mel B's estranged husband Stephen Belafonte was "enraged" by Mel B's "flirty" friendship with Cheryl whilst they were both judges on The X Factor in 2014.
A source told The Sun that he was angry after the Spice Girls singer playfully grabbed Chez's bum on one of the shows.
They said: "Mel was taken with Cheryl but it was harmless fun. She'd always come into her dressing room in hardly any clothes while holding her co-star's hand and grabbing her bum.
"Once she even did it on the stage. It was nothing more than a cheeky game among good friends but Stephen couldn't stand it and went ballistic."
The source then said that Stephen was angry about the exchange because he was not involved: "He liked to be in total control of everything. He was deeply uncomfortable with Mel flirting with Cheryl because it didn't involve him. The reaction was totally over the top but it prompted total rage."
Mel was this week granted a restraining order against her husband Stephen Belafonte, who she has called a "monster".
In papers obtained from the hearing, she has claimed that her husband of nearly ten years has been physically abusive towards her on multiple occasions - even doing so in front of her young children.
Mel, who was known as Scary Spice during her time in the girl group, has alleged that her husband was racist towards her, forced her to have threesomes and threatened to released tapes he'd made and told her she was "worthless" - with abuse allegations dating back to the very first year of their marriage.
In the documents requesting a restraining order from him, Mel wrote: "I am in fear for my safety and that of my children... Likewise the Respondent's emotional and physical abuse of Petitioner in the presence of the minor child is tantamount to abuse of the minor child."
She continued: "I have tried to leave the Respondent many times. Every time I tried, the Respondent threatened me with violence and threatened to destroy my life in every way.
"He said he would destroy my career and take my kids from me. He threatened to release sexually explicit videotapes claiming I would never again work in the entertainment industry."
Mel, 41, goes on to claim that her husband treated their children's nanny, Lorraine Gilles, as though she were actually his wife - even apparently paying her $300,000 to abort his child when she fell pregnant with him.
She alleged that Stephen suggested that "all three of them live together" with them and have the baby.
However, Lorraine's sister Jacquelyn Baartz hit back at the claims, telling the Daily Mail: "My sister and I are very, very close and I would have known about this, believe me.
"I don't know where this is coming from. She worked for the family for seven years and had nothing but positive experiences.
"She really loved those kids as if they were her own, so she stayed on much longer than she originally planned to."
There was speculation that Mel was being physically abused back in 2014 when she failed to appear at the 2014 X Factor Finals where she was a judge.
With no prior warning of her no-show, viewers were then surprised to see her back in the chair the next day with "strange" markings on her body.
As rumours of his abuse began to surface, Stephen hit back with a tweet which read: "I don't usually respond to Twitter messages but I will respond to comments of hitting my wife which I think are quite disgusting and untrue!"
However, according to The Sun, Simon Cowell had previously tried to help Mel B leave her marriage. A source told the paper: "Although no one was sure what was going on, Simon and the team at Syco really became concerned at The X Factor finale in 2014.
"In the days afterwards, following her release from hospital, they tried to help her leave Belafonte. They introduced her to divorce lawyers to help her to go through with it."
Stephen himself responded to the claims in a video to TMZ, saying: "I haven't heard these allegations. You know what my comment on this is, as this is the mother of my children? I'm really really distraught about how this is going to affect our children and the depths that she's gone to.
"I think someone's set me up to look like a bad guy. Obviously you saw my house got raided and nobody found anything. It's accusation after accusation. But we'll have our day in court."
Mel B is yet to make an official public announcement.
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