Melanie Brown (also known as Mel B or “Scary Spice”) opened up about how her new show Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test was therapeutic for her after her allegedly abusive relationship with her ex-husband during an interview on The View on Friday, January 20. The Spice Girl revealed that doing the show was a major part of the “healing process” for her.
At the start of the interview, Mel explained that even though she had to perform difficult and often scary tasks, it left her feeling amazing. “It was all terrifying, but really mentally and physically, really good. I walked away from the show feeling so empowered that I could conquer anything,” she told The View co-hosts.
Before opening up about how Special Forces helped her, Mel detailed how her relationship left her feeling. Mel’s ex-husband has also denied the allegations of abuse. “I had to do this show, because unfortunately, I had a very abusive 10-year marriage, and I’m about five years out of that. So when you’ve been through something like that, you walk out of it feeling so broken, and feeling so worthless. You’re riddled with shame and with guilt,” she said.
Mel also explained that felt like it was so important to speak out about abusive relationships because so many people experience it. She spoke about the importance of “stand[ing] strong together and fac[ing] it head on” to try to help more people.
Mel said that by undergoing the same test that Special Forces do, she was able to confront many of the difficult aspects of her recovery from the relationship. “For me, doing the show, I just wanted to see how far along I’d gone in my healing process, because it’s going to be a long journey. I’m always going to have the PTSD, the flashbacks. So, by me choosing to put myself on a show where you’re yelled at. You’re hooded. You’re strangled. You have to go into battle. It was everything that was a trigger for me,” she said. “This is my choice to do the show. I want to do it for myself. I want to tap into that inner strength that I thought I still had before my abuse even happened and see if that person’s still there.”
The Spice Girls singer continued and said that it really helped her to feel empowered once again. “Only you can stop the abuse happening to yourself in your head again once you’ve left,” she said. “It was really important for me to regain my power, take my power back and talk about it on lovely shows like this show.”
