Coronation Street consulted Mel B on coercive control storyline

Mel B has revealed that she helped out Coronation Street with its coercive control storyline.

The 45-year-old singer – best known of course as ‘Scary Spice’ – was allegedly abused by her former partner Stephen Belafonte.

Speaking to The Sun, Mel revealed that she drew on the experience to help the ITV soap with its recent abuse plot featuring the characters of Geoff (Ian Bartholomew) and Yasmeen Metcalfe (Shelley King).

“I met the team at Corrie and talked them through what it is like to live with coercive control and PTSD,” Mel B said. “They were able to write parts of the script because of what I told them.”

The long-running Coronation Street storyline saw Geoff isolate Yasmeen from her loved ones, chip away at her confidence, lock her in a magician’s box and feed her her own pet chicken.

His increasing cruelty led to Yasmeen lashing out at him in terror with a broken bottle and spending time in prison for his attempted murder.

The storyline ended with Geoff falling to his demise after chasing Yasmeen on to the roof of her house.

“It means a lot to me that what Yasmeen goes through in the show is true to life, because we know that because of the storyline lots of people living with abuse have reached out to get help. I like to think I helped shape the scripts.” – Mel B

Mel has alleged that she suffered “emotional and physical abuse” throughout her decade-long marriage to Stephen Belafonte. He has always denied the claims.