Brown revealed that she has been quiet about these things for so long and how her mother would have terrible arguments with Belafonte and left her feeling useless.

“I kept quiet about so many things,” Brown said. “My mom was working all the time, earning money for him – for the family. I knew she was having a terrible time; she sort of shrank. They’d have these awful rows in their room; I’d stand outside petrified, feeling useless.”

Brown shared that she grew up looking after her sisters, Angel and Madison, Stephen’s daughter and Melanie’s mom.

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“But life went on. I looked after my sisters,” Brown said. “I tried to look after my mom too, but I was a kid. It was a big secret. We were meant to be a happy family. You carry on and shut down your emotions. That’s how you deal with it.”

Stephen Belafonte

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