Melanie Brown is in her tracksuit talking to me from her Leeds home. Her mother has popped round and is chomping away on an Easter egg she has just found, despite the fact that Brown has made her some âamazingâ spicy curry soup for lunch. Her oldest daughter, Phoenix, is going to extreme measures to get her attention. Meanwhile, a tiny Yorkshire terrier named Cookie has jumped into Brownâs arms, as her French bulldogs, Yoshi and Yoda, and golden doodle, Luna, wander around making mischief. Itâs a picture of contented domestic chaos.
But it wasnât always like this. Four years ago Brown, better known as Mel B or Scary Spice, was living in Los Angeles, married to the American film producer Stephen Belafonte and, she says, terrified for her life. In her 2018 memoir, Brutally Honest, she