Spice Girls star Mel B has said the death of her father allowed her family to put aside a rift that had kept them apart for more than eight years.
The singer, 43, whose real name is Melanie Brown, reunited with her mother and sister last year while her father was in hospital battling cancer.
She told ITV’s Loose Women: “It was about eight years that I didn’t speak to them. It was heartbreaking.
'When my dad died, it brought my family together. It was really painful. I prayed every day that we would all get back together' – @OfficialMelB on her family feud. pic.twitter.com/oNpydrL0AM
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) July 23, 2018
“I was actually married and I was in an isolated, stressful kind of relationship, which prevented me from even reaching out to my family.
“Very awkward, very distressing for me for the whole of the 10 years. My mum FaceTimed my kids. That was kind of ‘allowed’.
“The good thing is, well kind of not good, when my dad died – God bless his soul – that brought my family together.
“So on his deathbed when I walked in, I got to see my mum and my sister for the first time in eight or nine years.
“Even though it was a really painful thing to see my dad going through that, it was such a happy, beautiful thing that I got to reunite with my family.”
She added: “My dad was in a coma, so he heard my voice and he sat up and said, ‘I love you’. And then my mum just hugged me. Then I got divorced and my mum and sister came and stayed with me in LA.”
She continued: “I knew there was going to come a point where we’d all come back together, or should I say, prayed every day, that that day would come and it did and I’m so thankful.”
The singer has penned a new book, called Brutally Honest, in which she talks about her experiences throughout those years and said she is glad her children will have a chance to learn from her mistakes.
She said: “I’d rather them read my story which is the complete honest truth, rather than go online and read what other people have been saying about me or what my ex or exes have been saying about me.
“I want my kids to be inspired and feel good about themselves and understand what a healthy relationship is.
“By explaining my mistakes, hopefully they won’t make the same choices I did.
“I did go through a phase where of course I blamed myself because I’m the one in the situation, but throughout my book it’s been very cathartic and very healing so hopefully it helps other people.”