Former Spice Girl Mel B Wants To Become An Australian Citizen

Former "Spice Girl" member Mel B says that she wants to become an Australian citizen. Originally from the United Kingdom, Mel B has recently made her base "Down Under" after 18 months of commuting between London, Los Angeles and Sydney before finally deciding that Sydney was the place she wanted to live permanently.

She is popular in Australia having been a judge on the Australian TV reality show "The X Factor" and will soon co-host its version of "Dancing With The Stars."

"I would love to become an Australian citizen," the married mum of three has said. "I've set up shop here. We are all really happy and settled," Mel added.

Melanie Brown, her real name, has just signed up with local label EMI. Also known as "Scary Spice", Mel B has already enrolled her eldest daughter, 13-year-old Phoenix, at a Sydney school.

Meanwhile, Mel and her husband Stephen Belefonte have moved into a rented harbor side apartment in Sydney's posh eastern suburbs as they continue to hunt around for a place to buy.

"Hopefully they are going to want me here for a long time," Mel said addressing the Australians.

According to reports, Mel told Sydney's "Sunday Telegraph" that she had been to a number of strip clubs in the red light King's Cross district of Sydney with her husband.

"We live an exciting life and we like to let off a bit of steam," she told the paper. "It keeps the marriage spiced up and alive," she further shared. Mel B certainly looked at home as she spent the day on the beach in Sydney with her daughters. Mel was spotted as she enjoyed the sunshine and sat on the sand as she attended to little Madison, her daughter with husband Belefonte.

The singer, who was dressed modestly in a white vest and yellow skirt, also played around with daughter Angel Iris while her eldest daughter Phoenix was nowhere to be seen during the sunny family day out.

Her love of Australia almost got her into serious trouble with an immigration official last October due to a problem with her visa. She is said to have come close to being deported back to the United Kingdom after she revealed that she had signed on as an ambassador for weight-loss company Jenny Craig in a deal reputed to be worth about £100,000.

Melanie had been sponsored by the Channel Seven TV network to come to Australia to work as a judge for "The X Factor" but under the terms of her visa, she was not permitted to work for other organizations without securing further sponsorships. It was only after her management met immigration officials that her representatives were able to announce that the problem had been resolved.