Mel B says fiancé Rory McPhee has helped her learn 'how to love again' after leaving her 'abusive' ex husband Stephen Belafonte: 'It's very nurturing and very giving, we understand each other'

Mel B had credited her fiancé Rory McPhee with helping her to ‘know how to love again’.

The 48-year-old pop star claims to have suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte – who denies her allegations – during their decade-long marriage, which crumbled in 2016.

Mel, who announced her engagement to Rory, 35, in November in 2022, recently hinted the two have confirmed a wedding date, and has said they’re planning to marry at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Spice Girl has now spoken glowingly about her relationship with Rory, telling Red magazine’s March issue: ‘Rory’s given me the ability to understand what honest, true love looks like and what trust looks like with boundaries.

‘It’s very nurturing and very giving. We understand each other. I never thought I’d know how to love again.’

Mel B had credited her fiancé Rory McPhee with helping her to ‘know how to love again’

Mel, who announced her engagement to Rory, 35, in November in 2022, has spoken glowingly about their relationship

The entertainer also apologised to her fellow bandmates for ‘shutting the door’ on them during her turbulent marriage to Stephen, admitting she didn’t lean on her bandmates during her time of need.

She eventually opened up to them while they were on tour together in 2019 and she said sorry for keeping them at a distance.

Mel said: ‘[The tour] reminded me how I was before anything really bad started happening.

‘But it was also the first time I’d looked the girls in the face and said, “I’m sorry I shut the door on you when all that stuff was happening”.’

Mel detailed her troubled marriage in her 2018 book Brutally Honest and she’s now set to release a revised version featuring extra chapters, and the singer explained she wanted to ‘acknowledge how far’ she’s come in the years since the tome’s original release.

She said she thought she owed it to her readers to add the new chapters, adding that many had emailed her to say they’d left abusive relationships themselves.

The singer explained how she wanted to show that it is possible to move on after abuse, while it can be a difficult process.

It comes after Mel revealed she had to persuade a bishop and vicar to let her marry her Rory in St, Paul’s Cathedral by detailing her two previous disastrous marriages.

The 48-year-old pop star claims to have suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte – who denies her allegations (Mel and Stephen pictured in 2015)

Mel was married to Jimmy, 55, from 1998 to 2000 and the couple welcomed daughter Phoenix Chi, 25, while they were together (pictured Jimmy Gulzar)

Mel recently revealed she had to persuade a bishop and vicar to let her marry her Rory in St. Paul’s Cathedral (pictured) by detailing her two previous disastrous marriages

She told how she had to explain why she wanted to marry again after her other marriages to Jimmy Gulzar and Stephen Belafonte didn’t work out.

Mel was married to Jimmy, 55, from 1998 to 2000 and the couple welcomed daughter Phoenix Chi, 25, while they were together.

The singer claimed that she left Jimmy because she became depressed over the dancer’s lack of interest in her and any intimate relations.

Speaking to the Mirror about their divorce in 2017, Jimmy said: ‘I was said to be the bad guy – Gold Card Jimmy who couldn’t keep her satisfied. It was horrible, the power of celebrity. What good is cash when you’re emotionally dying?’

She later tied the knot with Stephen Belafonte, 48, in 2007, and they share daughter Madison, 12. Mel is also mother to Angel, 16.

Mel filed for divorce from Hollywood movie producer Stephen in March 2017, following allegations of abuse, which he has repeatedly denied.

Speaking to heat magazine, Mel revealed that she had to regale the story of her past marriages in order to seek approval from the clergyman and woman.

She said: ‘We walked around it [St Pauls] the other day, because we had to meet the bishop and the vicar. Because I’ve been married twice before, I had to explain why.

‘Why now and why in a church. I had to describe my first marriage, my second marriage, because she wanted to know what went wrong, and I was like, ‘Right well, let me tell you…’

Mel has also apologised to her fellow Spice Girls bandmates for ‘shutting the door’ on them during her turbulent marriage to Stephen (L-R: Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell in 2007)

‘By the end, [the bishop] was like “you are approved”. I don’t think she was meant to say it there and then, but it was nice. So we’ve got a few dates floating about for the end of this year and the start of next year.

Last week, Mel shared details of her and Rory’s royal wedding venue as they prepare to tie the knot.

In an interview with The Sun, she explained: ‘As I have an MBE I am allowed to marry at St Paul’s. They only do a small number of weddings a year so we are on the waiting list.’

‘Because I have been married twice before we talked about that. I was very open and honest. I take marriage seriously and am actually very traditional. I spoke about how I was married for ten very abusive years.’