Mel B is engaged to her hairstylist Rory McPhee! The 47-year-old singer, who has been dating her new fiancé for three years, said the proposal happened during a vacation in Berkshire. “For the first time in my life, I’m engaged to a beautiful, honest person who makes me feel protected, nurtured and so loved, and I want to savour that,” Mel said to HELLO! Magazine. She also got the seal of approval from her fellow spice girls Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm.
“Emma [Bunton] cried, so did Mel C. All of them were delighted for us and said, ‘We love Rory, he’s amazing’ and they’ve all sent congratulations cards,” she said. “I do care about their opinion and it’s really special to me that they like Rory so much, because they’ve never liked any of my boyfriends and they’ve been quite clear about that. They were actually pushing me towards Rory for ages before the two of us became romantic, but I’d say to them, ‘It’s not like that; he’s just a really good friend who makes me feel safe,'” she explained.
The proposal happened at the Clivedon House hotel in Berkshire where he got down on one knee with a ring worth over $100K. “There were rose petals everywhere, a log fire, a hotel — which was Cliveden…It was very romantic. I love flowers,” she teased.
Although Mel and Rory have been semi-private about their relationship, the latter often shares hairstyles he does for his now fiancee on his Instagram account. Some of the latest looks were for her appearances on The Masked Singer and on Oct. 5, he shared a memorable video of the beauty flaunting her tresses to the camera in the different looks, which can be seen below. The clip received many compliments on both Mel and Rory’s work.
Mel and Rory’s engagement comes after she hinted at their romance in an interview in 2020. “I’m with someone who’s very kind. Very, very kind,” she told The Guardian. “And more than anything we’re really good friends from way back.”
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Mel’s marriage with Rory will be her third. She was married to Jimmy Gulzar from 1998 to 2000, and to Stephen Belafonte from 2007 to 2017. Her second marriage made headlines after she publicly accused Stephen, with whom she shares 10-year-old Madison, of domestic abuse for years, which he has denied. She also shares 23-year-old Phoenix Chi with Jimmy and 15-year-old Angel Iris with ex Eddie Murphy.
“For a good year and a half I couldn’t even bear for somebody to stand near me or be hugged. Apart from hugging my kids and my family, anything else would make me feel traumatized,” Mel told The Guardian about some mental health difficulties she suffered during her ex-husband’s alleged abuse. “I was like, well, if I don’t touch anybody and don’t let anybody come near me, I’ll be OK. You can’t live like that. But the trust issue is always going to be there. It takes someone who is going to understand and be compassionate and take everything super-super-slow.”