Mel B has revealed she was left with just £800 and a suitcase of clothes when she walked out of her marriage last year.
The Spice Girl claims her second husband, Stephen Belafonte, took control of her multi-million pound fortune and she “became a woman who didn’t know her bank details” during their marriage.
The 43-year-old star makes the revelation in her new autobiography, ‘Brutally Honest’, which is being serialised in The Sun.
In the book, she writes: “In the past 20-something years of my life, I have made more than £80million.
“When I met my second husband (Stephen), I had a house and a loft apartment in LA and a good career. When I left him I walked away with $936 in a bank.”
She adds: “From being an independent single mum, I became a woman who didn’t know her bank details, didn’t make decisions and had no friendly relationships with old friends or family.”
Mel, AKA Scary Spice, was married to the US film producer for ten years, but they filed for divorce last year.
She says: ”I felt emotionally battered, estranged from my family. I felt detested by the very man who promised to love and protect me.”
Earlier this year a judge in Los Angeles ruled that Mel would have to pay her ex-husband’s legal fees of $350,000 (£270,000), as well as £3800 a month to him in child support.
In August, Mel revealed she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and was set to check into a therapy programme after reliving her past for her autobiography.
“The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me,” she said. “I’ve been working with a writer on my book, ‘Brutally Honest’, and it has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life from the death of my dad to my relationship with men.”
She added: “I am fully aware I am at a crisis point. No-one knows myself better than I do. But I am dealing with it.”
‘BRUTALLY Honest’ by Melanie Brown with Louise Gannon (Quadrille, £17.99) is published on 27 November.