Mel B set to walk down the aisle with Rory McPhee

Mel B was broken, stitching herself back together bit by bit. Today she is revived – and stronger than ever.

Putting past toxic relationships behind her, Mel B will be marrying forever when she walks down the aisle for a third time.

Scary Spice is engaged to long-time friend Rory McPhee, the pair having dated for the past five years.

It comes after two previous marriages, the first to dancer Jimmy Gulzar and second to film producer Stephen Belafonte. The mother of three was also in a long-term relationship previously with Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy.

“It was a bit of a shock because I have known him (McPhee) forever, he is like a really good family friend so I can trust him,” Mel B, real name Melanie Brown, tells Insider.

“I am so much calmer now.”

Mel B is back for a new season of The Masked Singer Australia.

Brown has previously spoken of her difficult relationship with Belafonte, which lasted for a decade.

The singer detailed the physical and emotional abuse she was subjected to in her critically acclaimed memoir, Brutally Honest.

“I just think getting rid of that toxic relationship, even though obviously we still share a child together, it has just given me the freedom and the confidence,” she says.

“When you leave something like that, you are broken and you literally have to stitch yourself back together bit-by-bit, and only you can do that.”

Brown is patron of the Women’s Aid charity in the UK and spends time there weekly when home.

“I’ve been going there weekly for therapy and I hang out,” she says.

The soon-to-be married Mel B hasn’t ruled out having more children. Picture: Nigel Wright

“I don’t think it is about being strong, I just don’t lie to myself.

“And you have to go through the guilt, the shame, the embarrassment to be able to get over something like that. I guess you never really do get over it, it lives with you side-by-side because you can’t undo the abuse, you can’t undo the scars or undo what you’ve seen.

“For years I was yelled at, ‘you are fat, you are disgusting, you are ugly’. So there is always that voice there but, through therapy, you have to learn to put it to one side.”

As well as planning a wedding and being busy working on Australian reality show, The Masked Singer, Brown also hasn’t ruled out having more children.

“Never say never,” she says at the suggestion of having a child with her hairdresser partner.

“I have just turned 48 so I don’t know if it is possible but who knows.

“I am not pregnant right now by the way.”

Chrissie Swan, Abbie Chatfield, Mel B and Dave Hughes are the judges of the Masked Singer.

Mel B sat down with Confidential on set of The Masked Singer in Sydney, with Insider able to announce the fifth season will premiere on Channel 10 on Monday, September 11, at 7.30pm.

The former Spice Girl returns to the judging panel alongside Chrissie Swan, Abbie Chatfield and Dave Hughes with a new slate of celebrities set to smash out hit song covers from behind giant costumes.

Previous seasons have seen the likes of Cody Simpson, Kate Miller-Heidke, Anastacia, Macy Gray, Emma Watkins, Shannon Noll, Matt Preston and Ben Lee compete.

“It is everything that you want in a show,” she says, having replaced Dannii Minogue on the judging panel when she finished up after two seasons.

“And I’ve been watching it at home anyway, so I have got the best seat in the house.”

Viewers at home guess along as the judges attempt to uncover the celebrity behind the mask.

Mel B denies the judges have been given clues as to who is on The Masked Singer.

Often, people suspect judges have been given clues as to who is on the show.

“That isn’t true,” Mel B says.

“We research and I never like to know what song they are going to be singing. I have my dossier so I have everybody that I’ve met, and then I’ve got some of the Aussie stars and some international stars that I haven’t met.

“The voices are so easy for me to click, especially because we listen to the radio so much and there is constant music there.”

She continued: “I am really good with hearing voices but I am a bit crap with faces. Voices, because they are distinctive, yeah, I am good at that.”

Mel B explains that she thought Baby Spice, Emma Bunton, was one of the contestants on this season.

“I even texted her saying I didn’t believe she was in the south of France with her friends, send me a picture,” she says. “She was like, ‘look, here I am’.

“I was convinced, ridiculously convinced. I said, ‘help me out, are you Bluebottle?’. She didn’t answer and I was like, ‘it is definitely her’. And then she sent me a picture in France with her girlfriends.”

With The Spice Girls in 1997. Mel B (centre) will be wearing some of her Spice Girls costumes on set of The Masked Singer. Picture: AFP

Spice Girls fans are in for a treat, with Mel B revealing she would be wearing some of her original costumes from the group’s touring days.

“It is so fun, I get to dress up every day,” she says. “I get my heels on, get myself made up and I get to watch the show, and it is just silly. And this time round I get to bring my Spice Girl outfits from our 1998 tour. They still fit.”

As for music, Mel B believes she and her fellow Spice Girls will get back together, with Victoria Beckham also on board.

“It will be all five of us,” she says, adding with a wink: “It is about f***ing time. As a movement, what we did to give people a sense of freedom – you don’t have to look perfect, you can be gay, straight, black, white, bisexual, whatever you want to be. I would hope that we gave people just a sense of liberation and feeling positive and strong about themselves.”

She is also looking at working on her own solo material.

“I will always be pop, no matter what I do,” she says.

“It is just finding the person that can just coach me back into it because I am willing. I love performing, that is where I feel good.”

Season five of The Masked Singer Australia will premiere on 10 on September 11 at 7.30pm