Mel B splits dress open throwing water over Simon Cowell after crude jibe about her marriage on America's Got Talent

Mel B threw water in Simon Cowell's face and stormed off stage after he made a joke about her marriage on America's Got Talent.

The judges were giving their feedback to escape artist Damien Aditya who suffered a malfunction during his routine when Cowell made the jibe about Mel's marriage to Stephen Belafonte.

“I feel like this would be a lot like Mel’s wedding night, a lot of anticipation…not much promise or delivery," Simon said.

This prompted Mel B to get up and throw a glass of water over the music mogul, with such force that she split her dress, before storming off stage.

The former Spice Girls singer is currently in the process of divorcing husband of 10 years Stephen Belafonte, amid allegations that he was violent and abusive towards her.

The America’s Got Talent twitter page insisted that Mel B’s reaction wasn’t staged, writing “That was not planned you guys” and “This is live TV, you guys, anything can happen”.

Meanwhile host Tyra Banks said “Mel B is out. This is live TV y’all. Live TV.”

However it doesn’t appear that the incident did any lasting damage to Mel B and Cowell’s working relationship as she later returned to stage to watch the next act.

America's Got Talent airs in the UK on Tuesday evenings at 8pm on truTV.