Mel B believes Zumba classes have improved her mental health.
Mel B loves to dance
The 51-year-old pop star – who was known as Scary Spice during her younger years – has revealed how Zumba, the aerobic fitness workout, helped her to overcome the trauma caused by her marriage to producer Stephen Belafonte.
Speaking to People, Mel explained: “Because I had a ten-year very abusive marriage, when I got out of there, I had to piece my life back together. Trauma doesn’t really leave you and your body keeps that trauma in.”
Dance has become a central part of Mel’s workout plan.
The Spice Girls star said: “I was trained as a dancer, but this is just so much more free and you can just put your own personality on it, and it’s a good way of keeping fit and moving. And that’s what I love to do.
“I think just moving and keeping some kind of movement in your body is so key to being healthy. At the end of the day, who wants to be a couch potato?”
Mel explained that Zumba has improved her mental health, too.
The singer – who was married to Stephen between 2007 and 2017 – said: “It just makes you happier because you can choose your own music, you know, everything’s in the count of 8, so it’s really kind of easy to follow.”
Mel married Rory McPhee in 2025. But before that, the pop star vowed that she would never marry again after her acrimonious split from Stephen.
Mel – who announced her engagement to Rory in 2022 – told People: “I was like, ‘I’m never going to get married again. Never, never, never. I’m never having a relationship. I’m fine by myself. I want to raise my kids, put my head down and work, and that’s it’. And then … never can say never, can you?”
The loved-up duo have been family friends for years. But Mel grew closer to Rory after she relocated from the US to the UK following her split from Stephen.
The singer – who was also married to Jimmy Gulzar between 1998 and 2000 – shared: “He was just there patiently waiting, always there to give me a hair treatment, always there to talk. He’s a great listener. And he just became more and more of a friend, and more and more important in my life.
“It’d been a long time that anybody was that kind to me.”
