Mel B will "always be open" when it comes to her sexuality

Mel - born Melanie Janine Brown - told Attitude magazine about her lesbian romance: "I happened to fall in love with a woman and was with her for five years. We still talk to this day.

"I don't want to put a label on it, but I've always thought women are beautiful."

Mel added she always has felt like part of the LGBTQIA+ community but never felt compelled to specify her sexuality.

She said: "I didn't start off my sexual journey going, 'I'm this, I'm that, I'm bisexual.'"

Mel is now engaged to hair stylist Rory McPhee, 35, and told The Sun she feels "more confident than ever" in her skin after leaving her allegedly abusive marriage to Stephen Belafonte.

The former 'America's Got Talent' judge, who was married to film producer Stephen, 48, from 2007 to 2017, also told Attitude about the emotional trauma to which he apparently subjected her during their relationship.

She said: "(Stephen would) say, 'You look old.' 'You look fat.' 'God, you are ugly.' 'Your arms are flabby.'

"In a way, those comments are like rain. They seep right into you, they wash away self-confidence, your sense of self, and when you look in the mirror, you don't see a strong, happy woman - you see a reflection of what you're told, 'fat, ugly, old... worthless.'"

Stephen has always denied Mel's allegations of emotional abuse.

The former couple share 12-year-old daughter Madison, and mum-of-three Mel also has daughter Phoenix Chi, 25, with her dancer ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar, 49, as well as Angel, 17, with 63-year-old comic Eddie Murphy.