I have previously talked about how Justin Bieber has learnt to use the media to his advantage despite keeping up the pretence that he hates them and unsurprisingly other stars also seem to adopt a similar strategy.

In the news today is former Spice Girl Melanie B under the headline that friends are concerned about her “antisocial behaviour” and that she is a “shadow of the woman she once was”.

Now everyone has their bad days but it just so happens that where celebrities are concerned, the slightest little off day becomes a huge matter of public urgency. In this case, the story focuses on Mel and her apparently stormy relationship with Stephen Belafonte. IT goes into how their differences overshadowed Mel’s 40th birthday celebrations with a “source” telling a magazine: “Mel has been feeling a bit isolated in her relationship. Pals fear she lets Stephen call all the shots and say she barely socialises without him. She has a handful of close friends in LA but she does very little that doesn't involve Stephen. They feel she's slowly becoming a shadow of the woman she once was.”

If these so-called friends are so concerned then why are they telling a magazine about it instead of helping Mel? It’s more important that the tabloid media know about the imperfections of a star; that they are just like us and feel very real feelings.

As I noted in my previous article, certain celebrities have been in the industry long enough to know how to play the media to their advantage and this could be the case here. It could be that the whole situation had become radically sensationalised far beyond the truth to the point where it barely resembles the truth any more.

The general British public love to see a celebrity in turmoil. It makes us feel that little bit better about our own sadly mundane lives but here’s a thought: what if Mel is genuinely experiencing a rough relationship that has got to the brink of being abusive? Lots of women have found themselves in the situation the media is portraying her to be in but our role as the media consuming public is to do just that; consume.

In that case, it’s no wonder that Mel is feeling isolated and alone but at least she can cry into her gold-woven Kleenex.