Mel B could be facing a £1.6 million bill after her former nanny won the right to sue her for defamation.

In Los Angeles this week Judge Dalila Lyons granted Lorraine Gilles permission to go ahead with her case after Mel alleged in her divorce filing from Stephen Belafonte that Lorraine had threesomes with them, got pregnant with Stephen's child and had an abortion during his and Mel's marriage.

However, Lorraine insisted Mel, 42, had invited her to be part of the threesomes, they had also had a sexual relationship, and her pregnancy was the result of sleeping with someone else.

She is suing for libel, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress and is seeking unspecified damages, which could cost Mel up to £1.6 million if Lorraine wins, according to the Daily Mirror.

Judge Lyons "strongly urged" the parties to settle out of court before the costly case goes to trial.

Meanwhile, Lorraine's mother recently accused Mel of putting Lorraine's life in danger because she says the allegations have left her daughter bombarded with "hate mail".

Angelika Gilles said: "My daughter has received so many threats and hate mail that I can't sleep at night.

"I am afraid that something is going to happen to her. It would not be the first time that haters commit something horrible.

"Lorraine does not have the privilege to live in a villa with security or a bodyguard like Mel B.

"She is a simple girl who is trying to live a normal life in Los Angeles."

And Angelika has blasted the singer - who has five-year-old Madison with Stephen and Phoenix, 18, and Angel, 10, from past relationships - for turning her daughter from an "innocent teenage language student" into a "promiscuous young woman taking part in sordid threesomes that were filmed".

She added: "My husband and I are shocked and in total disbelief.

"Never in our wildest dreams would we have thought that Mel B is dragging our daughter into this lifestyle.

"I was shocked when I found out about everything from our daughter after all these claims were published. They portrayed Lorraine in such a bad way as if it was her fault that this marriage fell apart.

"We stand behind Lorraine and support her no matter what but I wonder what was going on in Mel B's head.

"Lorraine was 18 at the time and Mel was 35. Did she ever think about us? How would we feel about this?

"Her own daughter is 18 now. Would she want her to be in a position our daughter was in?"