MEL B. TO REPLACE SHARON OSBORNE ON AMERICA'S GOT TALENT

cary Spice Girl Mel B is taking over from Sharon Osbourne on America's Got Talent - and will leave NBC with one finger on the panic button as she joins outspoken Howard Stern and Howie Mandel on live TV.

The mum-of-three, 37, will join auditions for the talent show in Los Angeles this month, a source confirmed.

Mel has long been a favourite of show boss Simon Cowell, and was a popular stand-in judge on the X Factor UK last year.

America’s Got Talent is set to undergo a revamp for season 8 after ratings dipped in last September’s finale.


The show - which is the world’s biggest selling TV format - moved to New York from Los Angeles especially to accommodate radio star Stern, 58, who replaced Piers Morgan.

Sharon Osbourne, 60, announced her departure from AGT last July – and then declared she had left after the way NBC executives had treated her son Jack following his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.

She told the New York Post that Jack had been axed from an upcoming NBC show called Stars Earn Stripes, saying: ‘I just can’t be fake. It’s discrimination, and it was badly handled.’

A source told MailOnline: 'Simon loves trying people out on his shows, Mel's already been a judge on X Factor Australia and it's too far for her to keep taking the kids.

'She did want to do X Factor UK, but Simon really wanted her to do America's Got Talent.

'She's outspoken and never afraid to speak her mind, she makes for good TV. NBC execs will be watching through their eyes - let's hope they won't be using the delay button on live TV.

Mel, who is married to Stephen Belafonte, is mum to daughter Phoenix, who celebrated her 14th birthday yesterday, as well as Angel, five, and one-year-old Madison.