Stephen Belafonte’s own brother has stepped forward to warn X-Factor judge Mel B to leave his brother – claiming the producer is “hard and violent”. In a newspaper interview with The Sun, Jeremiah Belafonte begged Mel B to leave his brother, but said he wasn’t surprised to see the couple reunite in Mel’s Christmas family selfie: "She wanted to give him a wake-up call. But they've been here before. I didn't think their split would be forever."

A photo posted by @officialmelb on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:36pm PST

The news comes after weeks of speculation hit the couple following Mel’s sudden exit from the first half of the X-Factor final. Rumours that their marriage had hit crisis point went into overdrive when viewers spotted Mel had ditched her wedding ring, with many people questioning if there was bruising on the judge’s face. Belafonte later broke his silence on Christmas Eve, saying he has never hit his wife of seven years. Speaking to the paper, Jeremiah branded his older brother a "ruthless" money-grabber, claiming Stephen had ordered Mel not to speak to her mother Andrea Brown. He told the newspaper: "I know Steve - he’s cold, he’s hard and he’s violent. He loves money. Mel should look after her inner health - and that will never happen around Steve. She should get help. "He will destroy her. He will stress her out and pressure her until her stomach lining bursts wide open from an ulcer or she falls down and faints."

A photo posted by Stephen Belafonte (@stephenthinks11) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:13pm PST

On Christmas Eve, Belafonte posted a snap to Instagram of him and step-daughter Phoenix doing some last-minute shopping. Responding to nasty comments on the post, Phoenix, whose father is Mel B.'s first husband, Jimmy Gulzar, wrote: "Can everyone just chill he didn't hit my mom don't know how that stupid rumor came up."