Feisty Mel B spices up the dancefloor on Dancing with the Stars

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Dressed in her trademark leopard-print, Mel B threw down the gauntlet as she danced her way into joint-second place - and won praise from the judges for her 'feisty performance' on hit US show Dancing with the Stars.

The judging panel, which includes Strictly Come Dancing's Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, awarded her 24 points out of 30. Two points behind the leader, actress Sabrina Bryan, the 23-year-old star of the Disney Show, The Cheetah Girls.

Scroll down for more...

Wild thing: Feisty Mel B, with husband Stephen Belafonte, right, was a hit on reality show Dancing With the Stars as she performed in her trademark leopard-print

Compliment: Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said Mel was a better dancer than she expected

Choreographer Bruno Tonioli said her performance was "feisty" and "right on the money" while professional dancer Len Goodman said she showed "good hip action". He added: "You came out and you sold it."

Watch Mel B make her Dancing With The Stars debut here

Scroll down for more...

Hippy-hippy shake: Mel performed a Cha Cha Cha with partner Maksim Chmerkowskiy whom she first described as 'hard...in love with yourself and cocky'

But US judge Carrie Ann Inaba gave Mel a backhanded compliment, proclaiming the mother-of-two to be a much better dancer than she expected.

Mel, also known as Scary Spice, said she was nervous about being judged on her dancing, but she overcame her nerves for a dazzling three-minute dance routine with her partner, Ukrainian-born ballroom champion Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

She said: "If I messed up with the Spice Girls, I'd just turn round to Victoria or Geri and we'd laugh. Here you get points deducted and are kicked off."

But according to reports husband Stephen, who married Mel in a secret Las Vegas wedding three months ago, is said to be fuming about the amount of time his new wife is rehearsing with dancer Maksim whom Mel has described as being "sexy as hell".

A source close to Mel revealed: "Mel loves hunky men and she's crazy about Maksim. She can't hold back from saying he's divine in front of Stephen.

"He's pissed off about it and has told Mel he isn't happy. He just doesn't trust her.

As a result the pal said Stephen is insisting on accompanying Mel to rehearsals to make sure "there's no funny business going on".

It doesn't help that hunky Maksim admitted to a fling with actress Willa Ford when he partnered her in the 2003 series of the show. She was single at the time.

The source told Closer magazine: "Mel thinks it's funny that she has such a sexy dance partner and is loving every minute - but Stephen is fuming. It's led to furious rows between the pair."

Mel and Maksim didn't exactly hit it off at the start of their first practice session.

The Spice Girl said to her partner: "I'm glad you're hard and in love with yourself and cocky."

Scroll down for more...

Mel and Maksim: Mel found her dance partner 'rude' at first, then she realised he was just as straight-talking as she was

But the frostiness soon subsided, and the pair were soon larking around together in the dance studio.

"I saw Mak and he was a little bit rude and you know what, and then I realized it's just passion," she explained.

"I'm the same way. People get me confused with my straight talking as being offensive and rude."

Scroll down for more...

Union Spice: Mel has a busy year ahead, after recently marrying, and competing in the show she will start rehearsals for the Spice Girls reunion tour

Mel who is set to embark on a reunion tour with the Spice Girls later this year said her Spice Girls dance routines were no help when it came to hitting with Dancing with the Stars floor.

She has a very busy autumn ahead as her stint on the show coincides with the Spice Girls start comeback tour rehearsals.

"Dancing with the Spice Girls was very different - it was a lot more step, dig, step, dig," she said.

She added: "It's important that I do well because the main competition for me is in my head, so I'll let myself down and I'll let my dance partner down."

Scroll down for more...

Now Mel, 32, will battle it out alongside fellow Brit, actress Jane Seymour, who scored the same number of points.

At 56, Seymour is the oldest contestant on the fifth season of the show, which began last night.

The former Bond girl was described as the "essence of elegance" by the judges panel after she performed a foxtrot with her partner Tony Dovolani.

Victoria Beckham had been expected to attend the show, but did not make it to the studio.

The singer will find out if she has made it through to round two of the competition on Wednesday night.

Dancing with the Stars will be shown on UKTV Gold at 8pm on Friday

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in