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Coronation Street consults with Mel B on future of Yasmeen's storyline

From Digital Spy

Coronation Street consulted with Mel B over Yasmeen's coercive control storyline, the Spice Girl has revealed.

Speaking to The Sun, Mel said she was proud to help with one of the biggest storylines the ITV soap has depicted in recent years, explaining that she told the writers about the alleged abuse she received during her previous marriage, and the PTSD she still suffers as a result.

Photo credit: Noel Vasquez - Getty Images
Photo credit: Noel Vasquez - Getty Images

"I met the team at Corrie and talked them through what it is like to live with coercive control and PTSD," she said. "They were able to write parts of the script because of what I told them.

"It means a lot to me that what Yasmeen goes through in the show is true to life, because we know that because of the storyline lots of people living with abuse have reached out to get help. I like to think I helped shape the scripts."

Played out over the last two years, Corrie's coercive control plot saw Yasmeen physically and mentally tormented by her husband Geoff Metcalfe.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

On Christmas Day, viewers saw Yasmeen suffer an anxiety attack and drop to the ground as she imagined Geoff standing before her, even though he recently died trying to chase her off a rooftop.

According to Mel, who is now a patron of domestic violence charity Women's Aid, she was able to draw from her experiences with her film producer ex-husband Stephen Belafonte.

Mel alleges that she was subjected to emotional and coercive abuse from her former partner, who she divorced in 2018. Belafonte denied the allegations in 2017.


Organisations including Women's Aid can provide further support and information on coercive control or coercive behaviour.

We would encourage any readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story to contact Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) or Women's Aid (www.womensaid.org.uk). The 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247. The US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text LOVEIS to 22522.


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