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Mel B celebrates turning 40

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Happy birthday, Mel B! As the X Factor judge turns 40, HELLO! Online takes a look at what the stars have in store for Mel B, and you...

'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'. So sang Julie Andrews in Walt Disney's version of Mary Poppins, by P. L. Travers, with music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers. It became a hit the world over but nobody knew what it meant. Though we are all now older and wiser, we still haven't got a clue. Perhaps it meant nothing. But if we don't know what it meant, we can't be sure of that. Something and nothing are too often, too easily, mistaken for each other. Be willing, this weekend, to see sense in what seems like nonsense.

Read your horoscope for today.

MELB 2015 © Photo: Getty Images

Mel B in 2015

Melanie Brown, better known as Mel B, came to fame in the late 1990s as one of five-piece girl group the Spice Girls.

Also made up of Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm and Victoria Beckham (née Adams), the Spice Girls were a global phenomenon, becoming the best-selling female group of all time and credited with bringing the term "girl power" into the mainstream.

In 2000 Mel began to release her own singles, topping the UK charts with her debut song I Want You Back, but the Spice Girls soon unofficially announced a long-term hiatus, and Scary Spice, as she was known to Spice Girls fans, went on to release four more top ten UK singles.

In 2004 Mel decided to try her hand at the stage, and made her Broadway debut in the long-running stage show Rent, but the Spice Girls remained in the public consciousness throughout the 21st century and in 2007 the girls decided to reunite for a final reunion tour.

The sold out tour originally took in 11 dates spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America, but after the O2 Arena gig in London sold out in 38 seconds they announced 19 more UK shows.

The band also reunited for a one-off performance at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

In 2011 Mel tried her hand at TV and joined the Australian version of The X Factor as mentor and judge, before in 2013 joining America's Got Talent. Her success with both shows led to months of rumours in 2014 that she would be joining Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini on the 11th series of the UK X Factor.

The rumours were true, and Mel became a full time judge, winning over the public with her honest words and warmth towards her contestants.

Mel is mother to three daughters, Phoenix, Angel, and Madison. She has been married to film producer Stephen Belafonte since 2007, but the pair's marriage has been under the media spotlight for the last several months.

Speaking to HELLO! Online, Mel said however: "Stephen is the beginning and the end of my world. He gets me and I get him."

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