When Mel B fell pregnant, Eddie Murphy denied he was the father.

Melanie Brown (Mel B) and Eddie Murphy were once destined to be one of Hollywood's most famous couples.

It was a love-at-first-sight moment when the pair met in 2006. From there followed a whirlwind romance, sex that the couple described as "like poetry", a quick engagement, one child — and eventually, a very public paternity test and bitter separation. 

But Eddie was not the singer's only famous relationship. Mel B also had a highly publicised marriage (and subsequent divorce) with Stephen Belafonte, whom she accused of continued abuse during their time together.

In a new interview, Mel B has spoken about the reality of abusive relationships and how she has undergone a form of electric brain stimulation therapy to deal with the "extreme trauma" of her past relationships.

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Eddie Murphy: A paternity test scandal and a bitter separation. 

The last 18 years for Eddie and Mel have been a little bit of a tailspin. From the moment they first met though, in 2006 at one of his intimate dinner parties, the Spice Girls member knew he was the love of her life.

"It was as if a 2,000-volt electric current had passed between us," she recalled of her encounter with the actor in her 2018 memoir, Brutally Honest.

"I felt a hundred different emotions at once, from confused to elated, to happy to scared, to relaxed to incredulous, and everything in between."

Mel continued: "I felt I had known this man all my life and that I was staring at my destiny in his face."

The moment was so intense that she even admitted to leaving the party early. 

At the time of their meeting, they were individually at the height of fame, with Mel being one-fifth of the best-selling girl group of all time. Eddie was an innovative comedian and actor.

Eddie Murphy and Mel B, 2006. Image: ITV.

Their relationship was passionate, intense and — according to Mel — generous. 

Just weeks into their romance, Eddie offered to move Mel into his mansion and chauffeur her around. While the singer declined, he wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to her using his credit card.

While she did eventually return the card, the pair's relationship only intensified — so much so that Mel insisted they avoided becoming physical for six weeks. When the time limit was up, she said their sex was "like poetry".

"When it happened, it wasn't sex. It was like poetry, every touch, every kiss every sense out of this world. We were both completely besotted with each other," she wrote in her memoir.

Rather quickly, they not only became totally enthralled by one another but were also committed to raising a family together.

Just months into their relationship, Eddie asked Mel's late father for permission before he asked her to marry him. He also tattooed her name on his thigh.

Not too long after, the pair were pregnant. According to Entertainment Tonight, they "jumped around [Eddie's] en-suite bathroom laughing and crying, bursting with the best news ever".

But eventually, seeing how Eddie lived made her unhappy, and as a result, she flew back to her home in Leeds to deliver their child.

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In 2007, on Eddie's birthday, Mel gave birth to Angel Iris Murphy Brown. For the Spice Girls singer, the coincidental birthday only made her feel hesitant. She later told Entertainment Tonight, "I was like, is this a joke? On his birthday?"

However, the relationship turned sour fast when Eddie told the press he wanted proof their daughter was his with a paternity test.

"I don’t know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn’t jump to conclusions, sir," he told a reporter asking questions. 

Two months later, Mel announced a DNA test had confirmed Eddie was the father.

Their relationship developed a new public narrative — one that questioned the legitimacy of their engagement, child and love for one another. However, Mel has defended their relationship — even 18 years later.

Speaking to Piers Morgan on Life Stories in 2021, Mel said they "both were to blame". 

"I wouldn't have said that publicly and he apologises to this day about that," she explained. "He wishes he never said it because that baby was planned; we planned that baby together and we were madly in love, and it just went wrong, dramatically went wrong."

"He is the love of my life," she told Piers Morgan. "He always will be."

Now that Angel is a teenager, her mother says she visits Eddie "whenever she wants" — but it wasn't always that way.

She rarely saw her father — who has nine other children, four sons and five daughters — while growing up. But in 2016, they began to make up for the lost time. 

Eddie Murphy and his 10 children. Image: Instagram.

According to reports, Eddie agreed to pay around $55,000 AUD each month in child support for Angel. The change came after Mel allegedly requested more financial assistance due to a "change in income".

While he'd previously been paying around $39,000 each month, the new agreement declared he was an "extraordinarily high earner".

The new amount will continue being paid each month until Angel turns 18 in 2025. It was revealed later that the dramatic increase came down to her expensive divorce from director Stephen Belafonte, who Mel alleged had subjected her to sustained abuse, including "multiple physical beatings", drugging her, hitting her, choking her and forcing her to make more than 20 sex tapes.

Stephen Belafonte: A painful divorce and trauma therapy.

Mel met the director and film producer soon after things ended with Eddie, and it took just four months for their romance to turn into marriage. The pair were wed in a secretive Las Vegas ceremony, and welcomed a daughter, Madison, in 2011.

In 2017, Mel B filed for a restraining order against Stephen, amid allegations of abuse.

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte. Image: Getty.

In the years that followed, the trauma she says she experienced led to Mel looking for alternative forms of therapy. In a new interview, the singer has shared she has undergone electro-cranial magnetic therapy in the Balearic Islands to "rewire" the part of her brain affected by the abuse and to deal with ongoing depression and anger.

The noninvasive form of brain stimulation is said to help patients deal with stored trauma, although the side effects can include pain, headaches during and after the procedure and sometimes even seizures.

There was a specific moment the singer decided she needed to seek treatment and it happened more than six years after her split from her ex-husband, she told Marie Claire, adding that she was at "rock bottom".

Mel was lying curled in a ball, crying and shaking in August 2023 when her now-fiancé, Rory McPhee, begged her to get "proper help".

"When you leave an abuser, the abuse that you've endured — whether it be physical or mental — doesn't just go away," she explained. "You have to start from scratch, to learn how to be kind to yourself, to remember how to choose your own clothes, to rebuild your self-esteem; because the person you loved and trusted left you on the floor with nothing, no hope, no self-worth. Just guilt and pain — a lot of s**t."

Mel continued that she understands why it can take women up to six or seven times to leave their abuser because she "went back a lot of times".

"... I was blackmailed. There's also the fear of leaving and the courage and strength it takes to get out. It's absolutely gruelling," she said. "It doesn't just end with you, especially if there's kids involved, it's ongoing. I've been dragged through the courts since 2017... that's an unfortunate ramification of me leaving my abuser."

Stephen and Mel share one child together, Madison, who is now 12 years old. Mel also has a daughter from a previous relationship, Phoenix Chi Gulzar.

This article was published on December 15, 2023 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: The Sun.