Mel B, the former Spice Girls singer and current X Factor UK mentor, has reportedly split from her husband Stephen Belafonte as rumors of domestic abuse continue to swirl.

Mel B, Stephen Belafonte Split

Mel B and Belafonte “are taking a time-out from the marriage,” an insider told Radar Online. “They love hard and fight hard. However, those fights are only verbal, and Stephen has never laid a hand on Mel, and would never hit her.”

“There is no cheating or anyone else,” the source added. “For the time being, Mel will remain in London, in a hotel, under the care of a doctor. Stephen returned to Los Angeles over the weekend.”

Rumors began to swirl last week that Belafonte had physically abused the former pop singer, as she returned to the X Factor after missing a day due to an undisclosed illness with bruises on her face and arms. The insider, however, claims that the bruises were merely the result of the I.V. drips during her hospitalization. “The bruises on Mel’s arms were caused by I.V.s that were given to her during her stay in the hospital,” the source explained.  “The nurses had trouble getting the I.V. started because Mel is so thin, and it caused bruising.”

Belafonte appeared caught off guard by the allegations of abuse and has thus far flatly denied the suggestion. “No one has accused me of anything,” he told the The Daily Mail. “Who accused me of it? Did she accuse me of it? The police? The hospital? Who accused me of it? I thought when you beat someone up the police or the hospital or the person you beat up says it.”

He continued, “You’ll see all the legal letters going out tomorrow. Everybody’s been contacted by Mel’s representative, all the papers, that said: ‘I did not hit her, this isn’t going on, that’s not going on.'”

It is said that while Mel B and Belafonte are taking some time apart, reconciliation isn’t out of the question. They “are still talking on the phone,” the insider told Radar. “There is a lot of love between them, and no lawyers haven been hired. Nor has there been any talk of divorce. They are just trying to figure it all out.”