Mel B revealed her fiancé, Rory McPhee, helped her feel “more confident than ever” after allegedly being called “fat and ugly” by her ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte.
“It has taken me years, but I feel more confident than ever now and I’m with a partner who tells me he loves me and tells me I’m beautiful every day,” the Spice Girls member told the Sun in an interview published Wednesday.
The “Wannabe” singer — who got engaged to the hairstylist in October 2022 — added that McPhee played a massive role in helping rebuild her self-esteem.
“Being with a man who loves me, being with my family, having trusted loving friends, it all helps,” Mel said.
The former “America’s Got Talent” judge — who was married to Belafonte from 2007 to 2017 — also got candid about the alleged emotional trauma she endured during her relationship with the film producer
“He’d say, ‘You look old,’ ‘you look fat,’ ‘God, you are ugly,’ ‘your arms are flabby’ week in, week out,” Mel, 48, claimed to the outlet.
“In a way, those comments are like rain. They seep right into you, they wash away self-confidence, your sense of self, and when you look in the mirror, you don’t see a strong, happy woman — you see a reflection of what you’re told, ‘fat, ugly, old . . . worthless.'”
Belafonte, 48, has denied the allegations of emotional abuse.
While Mel has dealt with public scrutiny since rising to fame with the Spice Girls in the ’90s, she claimed she wasn’t prepared for Belafonte’s alleged criticism of her physical appearance.
“I’ve been in the public eye since I was a teenager so you become quite thick-skinned when people make nasty remarks,” the singer explained.
“The difference is when someone you are married to, someone who is meant to love and respect and treasure you, someone you share a home and a life with, starts ripping you apart, then it is very, very different.”
Mel — who shares daughter Madison, 11, with Belafonte — first accused her ex-husband of abuse in 2017. At the time, she claimed he beat and sexually exploited her, which he has vehemently denied.
He later broke his silence on the allegations and accused her of lying.
“Sometimes you stay quiet for obvious reasons!! #thequietbeforethestorm,” Belafonte posted on Instagram in May 2017.
He then posted a quote that read, “The most dangerous liars are those who think they are telling the truth.”
After a long court battle, the exes finalized their bitter divorce in August 2018.
Afterward, Mel moved on with McPhee, 36, in 2019. He proposed three years later during a trip to Berkshire, England.
“There were rose petals everywhere, a log fire, a hotel … It was very romantic. I love flowers,” the singer shared during an episode of UK TV show “Celebrity Gogglebox” last year.
Mel was previously married to Jimmy Gulzar from 1998 to 2000. The two share daughter Phoenix Chi, 24.
She also shares daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown, 16, with actor Eddie Murphy.
