Mel B to enter rehab for alcohol and sex addiction after PTSD diagnosis

Former Spice Girl used alcohol to ‘numb my pain’ after divorce from Stephen Belafonte

Mel B: “I am fully aware I am at a crisis point.” Photograph: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty
Mel B: “I am fully aware I am at a crisis point.” Photograph: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty

Mel B has said she is entering rehab for alcohol and sex addiction.The former Spice Girl, whose full name is Melanie Brown, says the decision came in the wake of an "incredibly difficult" six months in which she worked on an autobiography. "It has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life," she told the Sun on Sunday.

The singer, who is now a judge on America's Got Talent, says she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and has shared a link on Twitter to a US government site explaining the condition. She says the treatment she is receiving is "really helping me. I am fully aware I am at a crisis point." She says she has been using alcohol to "numb my pain".

Split: Mel B with her husband Stephen Belafonte in 2016. Photograph: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage/Getty
Split: Mel B with her husband Stephen Belafonte in 2016. Photograph: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage/Getty

Brown was married to Stephen Belafonte, a film producer , from 2007 to 2017; they separated in 2016. After their split Brown took out a temporary restraining order against him, and accused him of physical, verbal and psychological abuse. A 2017 domestic-violence trial was settled out of court; Brown has said that the emotional difficulties of the split also left her "financially battered".

The pair have one child, Brown’s third. She says she is entering rehab to become “a better version of myself for my kids, for my family and for all the people who have supported me in my life”.

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There are rumours of a Spice Girls reunion for a 13-date concert series, though without Victoria Beckham, who continues to concentrate on her fashion career. Brown's career outside of the girl group also includes appearing in a Broadway production of Chicago. – Guardian