Mel B's Louis Walsh Clip Goes Viral Again as Viewers Question Why Live TV Moment Was Laughed Off

A 12-year-old clip of Mel B confronting Louis Walsh after he grabbed her backside on television is circulating widely again as viewers question why the moment was laughed off.

The video, recorded during ITV2's The Xtra Factor in 2014, shows Walsh touching his fellow X Factor judge as Simon Cowell, Cheryl and presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford sit nearby. Mel B stops the conversation herself, asks Walsh why he is 'grabbing my butt' and calls his behaviour 'inappropriate'.

Mel B Confronted Louis Walsh During The Xtra Factor

The footage comes from the 2014 series of The X Factor, when Mel B and Walsh were judges alongside Cowell and Cheryl. Crawford, who ITV announced as The Xtra Factor presenter that year, was interviewing the panel.

As the conversation continues, Walsh's hand moves from behind Mel B onto her backside. After noticing what is happening, the Spice Girls star interrupts Crawford. 'Hold on a second, why are you grabbing my butt?' she asks.

Walsh removes his hand and replies that he is 'looking after Mel'. Crawford intervenes with, 'Louis! Hands where we can see them please!' Cowell then tells Mel B, 'Honestly, you're safe.'

Mel B moves further away and describes Walsh's action as 'inappropriate'. The exchange has become the focus of renewed criticism, with viewers questioning the laughter that followed her objection.

Louis Walsh Said He Grabbed Mel B 'As a Joke'

Walsh later addressed the footage after it went viral in 2018. Speaking to Mario Rosenstock on Today FM that July, he did not dispute grabbing Mel B, instead describing it as a joke.

'We'd be sitting there all day on the couch doing TV, and I just grabbed her arse as a joke,' Walsh said. He added that Mel B was 'very funny', said he 'loved her' and claimed he would grab her 'for a laugh', before adding, 'but it's not PC anymore.'

Walsh's explanation came four years after the original broadcast, while Mel B's response was immediate and captured in the footage itself.

Why the Mel B and Louis Walsh Video Keeps Returning

The clip attracted widespread attention when it resurfaced in 2018 and has returned to social media several times since. In 2026, viewers have again focused on Mel B clearly verbalising her objection while the programme continued around her.

Some posts have described the video as an example of behaviour towards women that was once dismissed as television banter. That interpretation belongs to viewers; the footage itself establishes that Mel B objected to the touching, and Walsh later acknowledged doing it.

The incident did not appear to cause a permanent public rift between the pair. In 2021, Mel B met Walsh for dinner at Dublin's Merrion Hotel while visiting Ireland. Walsh subsequently told the Irish Mail on Sunday that she was 'in great form' and that it had been 'really, really great to see her'.

Mel B has not made a major new public statement about the resurfaced footage. Twelve years later, her comments from the interview couch remain the clearest record of her reaction.

Separately, Mel B has become a domestic abuse campaigner, working with Women's Aid and receiving an MBE for charitable services.