Mel B’s husband Stephen Belafonte has taken to Twitter to deny allegations that he abused his wife. Speculation began last night when, after a stint in hospital, Mel B returned to her judge's seat on The X Factor panel.

Many people on Twitter began to speculate on apparent bruises that Mel B had, as well as the fact that she did not appear to be wearing her wedding ring. Questions also rose due to the fact that Mel’s sister, Danielle, yesterday wrote to Stephen on Twitter, asking: “What have you done?”

Now, the former Spice Girls’ husband has taken to Twitter to defend himself against the allegations, writing: “Idon’t usually respond to Twitter msgs but I will respond to comments of hitting my wife which I think are quite disgusting un true!” [sic]

He also called out those who accused him of such behaviour, saying: “Mel was very ill a bung of doctors helped her get better if fans can’t relax B4 being negative they r not real fans of @OfficialMeB.” [sic]

Mel herself has not responded to any rumours on her social media channels as of yet.