Mel B and Stephen Belafonte. Picture: Richard Dobson Source: The Sunday Telegraph
SHE'S the sweetness and light of Seven's breakfast team, but Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle today found herself embroiled in the ugly court fight between Scary Spice Mel Brown and the network the pair once shared.
As the Spice Girl's manager husband Stephen Belafonte gave evidence via video link from Los Angeles, it was alleged by lawyers acting for Mel B and Channel Nine that Doyle had been mooted as a possible replacement for Brown on Dancing With The Stars.
Belafonte alleged in contract discussions with Seven executive Brad Lyons, for her return to The X Factor, that the network was happy for Brown to drop her Dancing with the Stars duties, as Belafonte believed that the future of that series was "up in the air".
Her role on X Factor came to an end in January after the showbiz couple could not overcome visa issues relating to her children.
The movie and TV producer denied Brown's decision to decline an offer to return to Seven was about getting ''more money'' as the UK celebrity was already set to earn her full 2012 contract under the proposed option renewal without having to do two shows for the one price.
Belafonte testified he told Seven in December to halt their plans to use Mel B when immigration lawyers confirmed the couple would need to gain the consent for her two eldest daughters to travel to Australia for filming from their respective fathers, Dutch-born back-up dancer Jimmy Gulzar and US actor Eddie Murphy.
Before the parties could flesh out another offer Lyons made to keep Mel B involved in The X Factor from her home base in LA, the court heard he wrote to Belafonte asking Mel to sign a release assuring them she would not jump ship elsewhere.
In an email sent on February 26 and tendered to the court, Lyons wrote: ''We want to be clear that should Mel become available to work in Australia during the relevant period, it is with the Seven Network''.
But Mr Belafonte told the court he was confused by that email and the ensuing phone conversation he had with Lyons.
''I said, 'How are we being released if we're not doing a deal?','' noting the mood of correspondence had ''changed drastically''.
Mr Belafonte also denied Lyons claims he had told them he and Mel B were ''Seven through and through''.
''I would never say that. That sounds like a Seven slogan,'' he said.
He will return to the witness box on Monday.
It was during the cross-examination of another witness, Channel 7 production and rights manager Therese Hegarty that the option of using Doyle was raised in court, but email evidence confirmed that Lyons had deemed the show did not fit Doyle's schedule.
It is thought Doyle could be still under consideration for Dancing, but the celebrity series remains off air as Seven rolls out its new reality program, Celebrity Splash.
In other replacement revelations, Belafonte told the NSW Supreme Court injunction hearing brought by Seven to stop Mel B from joining Nine's Australia's Got Talent, he had suggested Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath and jailbird rapper Lil Kim as international stars to approach when it was clear Mel B would not be returning.
He said Seven had been desperate to keep news of her departure from the show a secret as rival Nine had gained positive publicity of its signing of The Voice coach, Ricky Martin.
