Watch Out, Mel B!

We were all very surprised to learn that former and current member of the all-girl band Spice Girls Mel B (on her true name Melanie Brown) secretly married her boyfriend, producer Stephen Belafonte when the couple eloped to Las Vegas in June this year. The two have been very guarded on making their marriage public, but the news eventually leaked and they had no choice but to admit and...well, enjoy the delayed congratulations and the attention. But together with the marriage, some more news came to light.

It's no secret that some of Mel's close friends are not exactly thrilled with her tying the knot. In fact, people in Mel's entourage were not too hot about the two being together ever since their relationship started getting serious. Belafonte (by his true name Stephen Standsbury) is rumored to have alienated Mel from her mother and friends, who took attitude and warned the singer about the so-called producer's shady past. Well, we hate to say it, but their fears were up to a point justified, as it turns out Belafonte has a history of cheating and domestic abuse.

One woman Belafonte admitted lashing out at is none other than Nicole Contreras, the mother of his young daughter, with whom he was together for five years before separating in 2003. The incident happened at Contreras' Beverly Hills home, and left her with visible injuries. He was charged with battery and court papers filed 24 hours later accused him of "willfully and unlawfully" using violence against her. Belafonte escaped without doing any jail time, with only a suspended sentence and probation, but he was forced to go into a year-long domestic violence program which he only completed in 2005, after being kicked out twice for skipping the anger management classes.

Apparently, and according to one source, Mel knew about all this before the two married, including about Belafonte marrying once before in Vegas to Nancy Carmell. Their marriage lasted three months and they divorced two years after getting married. But apparently this is by no means the end. Another of the producer's ex girlfriends, who prefers to remain unnamed, claims that Belafonte remorselessly cheated on her and states: "He never invited me over, never introduced me to his friends, never talked about his family. We met about two weeks after he broke up with the mother of his daughter. But he later told me that he was still sleeping with her throughout the whole time we dated".

The one thing that's for sure is that this guy sounds like bad news for Mel B. Even if she declares that she's aware he's "no angel", we hope there won't be any nasty surprises for her as well in the future and that she will be able to enjoy her career and her family.