Mel B has a creepy keepsake from her troubled marriage with ex-husband Stephen Belafonte.
Appearing on the British talk show Loose Women, the singer, 43, opened up about the fate of the tattoo of Belafonte’s name on her ribs which she had removed just a year ago, admitting that she has kept the surgically-removed skin, which is now stored in a jar above her wardrobe.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“This one particular tattoo that my ex had forced me to have was ‘Stephen until death do us part, you own my heart.’ I just thought I can’t go through the pain of getting it lasered so I convinced a doctor to cut it off my body,” she said, according to Metro UK. “I’ve saved it in a jar, which sounds a bit strange, I know. It’s at the top of my wardrobe. Nobody can see it, but I know it’s there and it’s off my body.”
The Spice Girls singer went on to explain her reasoning behind not only having the tattoo surgically removed, but also her decision to keep it.
“It sounds horrific, but what I went through was so horrific,” she said, referring to her bitter divorce. “A lot of my surgery was to do with getting out of my abusive relationship. It was almost like a cleanse. I just wanted to feel fresh and new again and untouched by that person.”
“It’s like if you’re a rape victim the first thing you want to do is get in a bath and wash everything off you,” she added. “I didn’t want to have any remnants of him on me.”
The former couple’s relationship came to an abrupt end in March of 2017 when Brown filed for divorce after 10 years of marriage, accusing him of physical and emotional abuse. Belafonte denied the claims.
During her appearance on the morning talk show, Brown opened up about her decision to end their marriage, crediting her late father, Martin, for giving her the courage.
“It took the passing of my father to give me the strength to go, ‘Okay, my dad’s now dead, and now I have to have the strength to carry on in a positive way and stop living in this lie and pretending nothing’s happening and it’s all a façade,” she said. “I wanted for it to just stop. I wanted to have one night where I could just go to sleep peacefully and safely.”
She added that prior to his passing, she had confided in her father about the state of her marriage, claiming that she “whispered in his ear…’When you take your last breath, I’m going to go and divorce a monster,’ and then he looked at me and took his last breath.”
Brown and Belafonte settled their divorce in August of this year, which included the abuse charges being dropped and a financial settlement being reached.
