People: Spice Girl Mel B is deeply moved by honorary doctorate

Doctor Scary Spice: former Spice Girl Melanie Brown (also known as Mel B) has been awarded an honorary doctorate. The 49-year-old accepted the award from Leeds Beckett University at a ceremony on Monday evening and was deeply moved.

Receiving an honorary doctorate in her hometown of Leeds was life-changing and an achievement like singing with the Spice Girls in front of thousands at Wembley Stadium, Brown told the British news agency PA. She was awarded for her commitment to victims of domestic violence.

Gown with leopard skin pattern

Brown said that it was also a profound experience for her to enroll as a student at university at such an advanced age. “Walking through those gates as a student was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, but it changed my life.” She passed her exams, she said.

The former pop star also made a fashion statement. Mel B wore a red, blue and yellow gown with a leopard-print lining over a green dress.

After great fame came difficult times

In her autobiography “Brutally Honest”, Mel B reported, among other things, how she had to go through difficult times after her great fame with the Spice Girls (“Wannabe”).

At the beginning of the year, she told the tabloid newspaper “The Sun” that she only had a few hundred euros in her pocket after separating from her then-husband Stephen Belafonte in 2017. But her life has since stabilized again. Brown accuses Belafonte of mistreating her. However, he has always vehemently denied the allegations.

Brown was already awarded a Royal Order of Merit in 2022 for her commitment to victims of domestic violence.