Mel B shares emotional domestic abuse message amid Stephen Belafonte divorce:'No more hiding, no more shame'

Mel B has opened up in an emotional Instagram message, with the former Spice Girl sharing multiple photos of herself crying as she wrote about living in fear and the impact of domestic abuse amid her bitter divorce from estranged husband Stephen Belafonte.

Mel filed for divorce earlier this year after 10 years of marriage, accusing the film producer of being emotionally, physically and sexually abusive towards her over the years.

In response, Stephen has accused Mel of drug addiction and denied all of the abuse allegations.

Mel has kept largely quiet about her high-profile separation, however, she has now broken her silence in a moving post.

Captioning the collage, the mum-of-three wrote: “I may not have come from the perfect home but I was loved by family. I may not be in the most favourable situation in life currently, but trust me I soon will be by speaking my truth because i refuse to give up and shut up and just settle.

“My heart and my intentions are pure and honest and that alone makes me stand and fight for what I believe in. I know the cards I’ve been dealt will change for the better and change indeed very, very soon.

“A lot of people will be eating their cruel, dishonest, disgusting words. Thank you to the ones who stuck by me and believe in me even if I wasn’t able to talk to any of you for 10 years, but guess what – I’m back now, stronger, healthier and sillier than ever.”

Mel went on to credit her late father for helping her gain the strength to leave her husband, adding: “No more hiding, no more shame, no more traumatising pain. These last seven months have been incredible despite the death of my father, but he gave me just the strength I needed to stop living in utter fear.

“Thank you daddy, I love you and miss you every second of every day. I’ve stayed quiet for way, way, way too long.

“I want to empower and support women and give strength and hopefully pave the way, even if it’s just to a handful of people, to let them know you can do it all alone.

“I walked away with nothing, just my kids, no one knew, but it was the most terrifying but amazing walk I took [sic]. I never looked back, never will I regret it.

“I’m crying writing this, I’m sorry, but just know you’re not alone, there are more people than you could ever imagine in the same boat right now and yes they are all alive to tell their story.”

The star poignantly concluded the caption with the hashtags: “StopDomesticViolence #StopRapeDrugging #GetOutNowPlease #NoMoreShame #NoMoreHiding #ReportYourAbuser”.

Mel was quickly inundated with support from her followers, with many thanking Mel for being brave enough to open up and shed some light on domestic abuse.

The star has five-year-old Madison with Stephen and Stephen is currently only allowed supervised contact with his daughter.

Mel is also mum to 18-year-old Phoenix and 10-year-old Angel from previous relationships.

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