Mel B’s ex-husband claims the Spice Girl has tried to stop him seeing their teenage daughter and says her current fella has even threatened him outside a school.
Former dancer Jimmy Gulzar says he was left suicidal after spending ten years living illegally, sometimes even on the streets, in the US to stay in contact with Phoenix, who is now 17.
In an interview, Jimmy, 49, who was married to the singer from 1998 to 2000, said: “Mel’s a narcissist. She’s always tried to put a huge wall between my child and I. But I stood there like a rock to be there for my child. I just think she finds herself more important than her kids. She is famous and the only thing you have in your mind is, ‘I need to be successful’, that drive is unstoppable.”
The Dutchman was a former backing dancer with the Spice Girls and fell in love with Mel when they were at the height of their fame in 1997.
Jimmy said he is speaking publicly for the first time because Phoenix is on the brink of adulthood and he is now legally in the US.
Looking gaunt compared with his heyday as a muscly performer, he said: “My biggest worry now is when the fame stops, what then? I’m happy when Mel has steady work like America’s Got Talent because when she’s steady it is good for Phoenix.”
Jimmy’s nightmare began when Mel won custody of Phoenix and moved to Los Angeles with her in 2003.
Leaving his life behind, he followed his only child to the US because he could not bear to be parted from her.
But while Mel lived in mansions he was forced to live on the streets or on friends’ sofas, blowing his divorce settlement on a series of disastrous financial decisions.
He said he received £500,000 but other reports put it at £1.25million.
