Before we get into the episode, we wanted to issue a trigger warning as we discuss themes about eating disorders. The Beckhams had become English royalty. The public were obsessed with the couple and their every move made headlines. I con them golden balls.
You know now.
That's gonna be true and kind of those kings. I shouldn't have said.
No one knew though, that the Beckham Juggernau was about to go international. A shop moved to Madrid, put Posh and Becks's marriage under the spotlight.
Of course, I love my family, I have a wonderful life, but football is everything to me and joining Real Madrid is a dream come true.
Then came the onslaught of cheating allegations that rocked the marriage.
I felt like a whole. I felt really cheap, and I felt used, and I said, I'm not not even why why am I doing this?
We are journalist Sophie Kate and Amy Torbert, and this is our new series Unspoken, where we bring you the unspoken stories behind the big pop culture headlines to rock the nineties and early naughties. When we left you last, David and Victoria had officially become the Beckhams. They had an absolutely extravagant wedding. They also had just given birth to their first child, Brooklyn, and were dealing with absolutely
terrifying kidnapping attempts. Now in the midst of all of this, Victoria was also being hounded by the press, and they had an absolute obsession with her weight. So over the years, she's been called everything from porky posh to skeleton posh and the media. Speculation about her weight went into overdrive following the birth of her first child, Brooklyn, in nineteen
ninety nine. Now, not long after she gave birth, a picture of Victoria appeared on the front page of the newspaper, where a journalists pointed out every part of her body where she needed to focus on losing weight. She did end up losing a large amount of weight very quickly, which sparked speculation of an eating disorder. Victoria denied the claims that she she was anorexic, insisting that her shape had changed naturally after giving birth. She said her issue
was made worse by food allergies. Just two months after giving birth to Brooklyn, Victoria appeared on TF five Friday, which was hosted by Chris Evans, and unbelievably, during the live interview, she was forced to weigh herself in front of the audience and cameras. Let's throw to how it went down.
Is you wait back to normal?
Yeah?
Can I check?
Oh no, Jerry, didn't you on?
But Jerry?
Was that really smart?
Two?
Number two is great?
You can afford Number two is?
Can't you.
All?
The last time I saw people being weighed on television and then cheered for when they lost weight was when The Biggest Loser was on and we all know what a mess that television show turned into. Can you imagine if this was filmed today, the uproar making a female
celebrit pretty stand on scale. It just wouldn't happen. And the worst part is Victoria said, oh, you did this to Jerry as well, talking about Jerry Hallewell it's even worse because she has just had a baby as well, and it's that expectation that well, you better hurry up and get rid of this way. Posh did reflect on the interview, saying he made me stand on the scales to be weighed. Can you imagine doing that nowadays? Now?
In two thousand, the Spy Skills announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus, but they insisted to fans that it wasn't the end of the spy skills, so they never actually officially broke up. It sounds like that denial where one d broke up. They're just going on a break. Victoria did embark on a short lived solo career. She released her first solo album called Victoria Beckham in two
thousand and one. Now that didn't go too well. It failed to reach the top of the charts, and I feel like this has always been a bit of a saw point for Victoria. Well. She was also mocked by the general public and the media because she was never known for her voice, as we've touched on in the past episodes. Now, to promote the album, Victoria appeared on Parkinson, but instead of focusing on the music, David Parkinson flatter asked her if she was anarexic. Let's throw to what he said.
Three questions I got to ask you right right? Is it true that David wears your knickers? First question, say, is it true that you wear the trousers in your house? And the third are you anarexic?
Now?
Those are the three questions everybody in the audience out there and the media all eager to hear your views on David wearing your.
Knickers to star with.
Well, I'm the only person that actually wears my knickers.
You are, but if you'd like to borrow them, I can.
Play the headlines now Parky borrows Poshi's knickers.
I liked how she tried to divert the question, but Michael again asked her, are you anarexic? Let's throw to what she responded.
Now, are you anarexic?
No, I'm not.
How do you know that?
I know?
Because I eat anorexic?
You eat regularly?
Yeah?
No, I mean I have a perfectly healthy dar.
Why, it's clear to me listening to this interview that back in the early two thousands, people didn't understand what anorexia was. It seems preposterous to ask someone how they
know that they're not anorexic. Well, it's also clear that no one realized it was completely inappropriate to pose that question to someone, let alone do it in a public space during a live interview that's been televised, Particularly when Victoria went on to explain that she actually had visited a doctor to investigate why she was unexpectedly losing weight since giving birth, and she said she was eating normally,
so she was quite worried about it. And she said the doctor told her it was an hereditary condition as the same thing had happened to her mum following childbirth. This interview just got worse because Michael Parkinson then asked her what it's like going out for meals at restaurants and do people assume that she goes to the toilet to chuck up? And the audience proceeded to laugh. It felt like a pylon because on the show they also
had two Fat Ladies. Star Clarissa d Wright interviewed and she was sitting alongside Victoria and she chimed in asking Victoria what she ate, and when Victoria tried to explain that she eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks, Clarissa then made a snide comment saying, and how many let us leaves a day? Was that? Do you think they
purposely got Clarissa on the panel. It was an interesting mix because you've got Victoria Beckham there who is being accused of not eating, and then you've got Clarissa Dixon, who was on a show called two fat ladies, who was known for cooking very indulgent food, So I maybe think that there was some strategy behind it. I think
it was definitely a strategic move by producers. They would be working weeks in advance to make sure that the three guest celebrities all complimented each other in the sense that they were three very different people with three different views. Yeah, I mean it was so uncomfortable to watch, particularly when
you think about the way Parkinson worded the question. I understand that in the early two thousands we weren't as educated on the topic of eating disorders, but there would have been a much better way that he could have worded the question and shown some compassion, rather than presenting it as a third dot point in a quick filistic questions. He also seemed to accuse her of it, as if it was something that she was purposely doing to cause upset,
when we know that anorexia is a mental health condition. Well, can you imagine if she said, oh, yes, I am, I mean, how is that a really sensitive way to tell people about something that you've been struggling with. It also feels like a bit of a got you moment as well, because if she closes up and says no, I'm not. Then later down the track, if she does feel comfortable to talk about it, then she lied to the public.
Yeah.
Well. After years of denying the eating disorder rumors, in two thousand and one, Victoria admitted in her autobiography that she did in fact suffer from an eating disorder. So she said her obsession with her body image began in the early days of the Spice Girls, when management told all five girls they needed to lose weight. Victoria went on to blame Jerry Halliwell in her book for fueling
her obsession with losing weight. So at the time, all five girls were living together in a house in Berkshire, and Jerry encouraged Victoria and Melsey to get up early and go running, as well as introduced Victoria to meal replacement shakes. She then said, the trouble is that when you start thinking like this, it's hard to stop a change from someone who was dieting to lose a bit of weight to being obsessive. I was shrinking and the
excitement at getting thinner quite took away the hunger. Now the pressure got too much for Victoria, who then began binging and purging. It's been reported that Jerry and Melsey also battled eating disorders. Victoria said she would eat ten bowls of Frosty's in one sitting, and tins of fruit and when she was in the gym. Instead of checking her posture or position, she said she'd checked the size of her bum or to see if her double chin
was getting any smaller. Wrote I began living on vegetables and nothing else, but it never occurred to me that I had an eating disorder. She wrote, I used to chop up bowls of spinach and carrots and steam them, or I just eat peas I had become skeletal. Spice. Despite saying that she suffered from an eating disorder in the early days of the Spy Skirls, Victoria vehemently denies
that that condition continued. So She said, I think there's a big difference between someone having an eating disorder and someone who is controlled about what they eat. There's a big difference. And every now and then, of course I go and eat what I like, but I do try to be quite disciplined in the way I eat. She also said that becoming a mum helped her to become more accepting of her body. She said, when you have children, it also puts a lot into perspective. You realize they
notice everything. I would never sit down with my kids and skip a meal. They need to see that their mum eats healthy. You need to show little people how to be healthy and happy with who they are. I just think this continuous speculation about Victoria's body for the last thirty years is just disgusting. And it's so ridiculous to think that we expect female celebrities to act as role models when they we are prone to even greater
pressure to be thin than ordinary women. I mean, look at three out of the five Spy Scales have come out and said that they have suffered from eating disorders. They were clearly under a lot of pressure in the nineties to be thin, to be heroin chic. It's pretty clear to see that nothing is ever good enough for the press. They're either too fat or too thin. They're
never just quite right. Yeah, and I think it's actually really good that Victoria came out and admitted that she was struggling with an eating disorder, because it really opened up the conversation. We did see it back in the mid nineties when Princess Diana came out and said that she had bulimia. The thing that I don't like, though, is that there's no room for Victoria to be allowed
to recover from that eating disorder. She has to continually be scrutinized and questioned, and even now there is still so much speculation around what Victoria eats. Recently, in February twenty twenty two, David Beckham made headlines when he spoke about Victoria's restrictive diet. So he was asked on the River CAFEO podcast about what his family eats, and this is what he said.
When I'm eating something great, I want everyone to try it, you know. And that's unfortunately I'm married to someone that has eaten the same thing for the last twenty five years since I've met her. Victoria, she only eats you know, grilled fish, steam, vegetables. She'll very rarely deviate away from there.
Now, this interview led to a lot of people speculating again that Victoria was suffering from an eating disorder, and it also sparked a lot of unhelpful conversations that really trivialize the way that Victoria ate. So people were talking about how oh, she's just very disciplined, or it's a time saving tactic, and it sparked a lot of unnecessary conversations.
Well.
In July twenty twenty two, Victoria actually addressed the comments that David made in the podcast interview. She said, talk about making me sound boring. She went on to clarify that she eats healthy, including fish, avocado, nuts, that sort of thing. She added that she regularly drinks alcohol. She also noted, I'm quite extreme in anything I do, whether it's eating or working out, or drinking or not drinking.
I didn't actually realize. But she was interviewed on the same podcast a year earlier, and she sparked mixed reactions when she answered what her favorite comfort dish is. So she said, this is where I get even more boring in the food department. Okay, what do I like? I like whole grain toast with salt on it. She then laughed at her response and went on to say it was really boring and that it's that carbi thing, isn't it. It's that carbohydrate that makes you feel comforted, and I
love salt. What can I say? She then went on to describe herself as a very fussy eater. That is most restaurants nightmare. Victoria also explained that she likes her food to be cooked plainly, without oil, butter or sauces, and as for a diet, she hasn't eaten red meat since she was seven and does not eat dairy. She also said that she loved to eat steam vegetables with balsamic v and like to season her meals herself. I don't see how that's so much different to what David
Beckham actually said a year later. I just can't get over the fact that there's not even a bit of butter on that toast, like the fact that it's just bread and salt, because toast with butter can be an elite combination. But yeah, I think she's missing out one of the vital ingredients there. Now we need to get back to June two thousand and three because this is a very important moment on the timeline. So the football world was left shocked when David Beckham was sold to
Real Madrid for thirty two million pounds. No one was more shocked than David himself, who was at the peak of his career and didn't want to leave his beloved Manchester United. Now, David's exit was down to his relationship with United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, so in the early days he had been somewhat of a father figure to David, but there was tension growing between them. Ever since Beck's met Posh. The falling out erupted with a much publicized
locker room incident. So after the match, David mouthed off at Ferguson about the loss and Ferguson lost it and kicked a boot at him. David claimed he had to get stitches in his eyebrow, whilst Ferguson called its stage management. In the Beckham documentary, David said, when I first moved to Spain, it was difficult because I'd been part of a club and a family for my whole career, from the age of fifteen to when I was twenty seven. I was sold overnight. The next minute, I'm in a
city where I don't speak the language. More importantly, I didn't have my family now. David made the move to Spain in June two thousand and three, however Victoria and the kids didn't join him until December that year. Victoria was heavily criticized in the press for not moving with David straight away. However, the reality was she had two
young children whose lives were also being uprooted. No one considered the fact that she actually had to find a school for Brooklyn, or that she had a career based in the UK. She did become public enemy number one with the Spanish people when the media reported that she said the Spanish smell of garlic. Now. She those claims, saying she would never say anything so disrespectful. She continued saying everything was fabricated and taken out of context. It
was never about Spain. It didn't really seem like Posha's sense of humor resonated with the public. During an interview with GMTV in Madrid, she said, one thing they can't get right here is the grapes because they all have pips in it. I feel like that is a common thing with English people because I've been listening to a podcast recently and these English girls are saying that the Americans just don't get their sense of humor, so maybe
it's the same for the Spanish well. She also said that she wasn't happy with the interior of the houses that some of the real estate agents had offered her in Madrid. In an interview, she said that one of the reasons it's taken her so long to settle into Spain is because it's been tough finding a house. She said that the houses the agents found her were very Hollywood and were filled with lifts, disco balls and cinemas, and she didn't want anything like that. I do like that.
She said that she was learning Spanish and that David would get very hot under the collar when she'd whisper sweet nothings in Spanish. It's pretty funny because the reporter Darla Romano tried to teach Victoria a few words, including Spanish for golden balls, which is Victoria's pet name for David. Can you imagine her then suddenly dropping that to him. Well, he'd have no idea. Now, with Victoria and David navigating a long distance relationship, the press were already pre empting
an affair. Talk show host Jonathan Ross started stoking the fire when Victoria appeared on his show to promote her solo career. Let's throw to what.
He said, You're dating without that one of the most attractive men.
No, I'm not dating and we've got married.
Well, okay, I like having this little bit of omen's day, you know, but you're you're married to, yeah, one of the most attractive, handsome, famous men in the world, and you know it's all there for him. And he's going out with someone who's out working in New York. And you're an attractive you're a beautiful woman. You've got you know, fame as well. It must be tough just on that level. I mean, the trust that's involved there must be quite larger.
Or are you why do you get concerned? Are you jealous of each other?
Case?
I mean, I think it's always healthy to have a certain amount of jealousy in a relationship. But at the end of the day, it's no harder for us than it is anyone else. You know, you're away from must you know, I think that there's pressure on every relationship. I'm not going to say poor.
Me, look look for me, okay, you know. I mean, I'm not bad looking for my age. But when I go my wife, my wife knows, no one's going to look twice. Really unless I went out of my way. There's David right now, he's in Spain. They're following himself at him. Yeah, you know, they must be all the time and you go out, people are right. You know, I'm sure you get more than a few offers, don't you.
Yeah, But I think you know, we do trust each other. And when you got kids, you know, at the end of the day and you never know how long fame is going to last. And it is all very superficial. And that's why, you know, as long as our relationship is all right, that's the main thing. You know, we're going to grow old and wrinkly together.
Enter Rebecca Loose. So when David moved to Spain, his management firm hired a twenty six year old assistant called Rebecca Now. She was born in Madrid, but she also holds Dutch citizenship. Her father was a Dutch diplomat and her mother was originally from Surrey. Now. The idea was that Rebecca would help David settle in and teach him
the ropes of living in Spain. So Rebecca first met David at a private airport and said she was initially not impressed by his pretty boy image, ripped jeans, diamond earrings and fancy watchers. She did say it was clear Victoria and David were at crisis point, with David allegedly having explosive fights on the phone with his wife. She also said that David begged Victoria to join him in Spain with their two sons, saying he couldn't live without them.
In September two thousand and three, whispers of a cheating scandal began brewing when media published photos of David and Rebecca at a nightclub together. They looked pretty cozy in the photos, sitting close to one another and chatting. Now. When the photos hit the paper, David's PR team came out and said people were reading into nothing. However, Rebecca alleges that these photos actually captured the start of their four month affair. Here's what Becka said about that night.
We were just locked into each other all night, conversation wise, I mean other people noticed it. Other people at the dinner, I sat opposite him and the rest, you know, sort of down the table. Then it was just him and I talking and laughing and joking and we just we just connected. The chemistry between David and I were so strong that everyone was aware, and people weren't happy, obviously, because I was being very unprofessional and he's a married man.
This girl came up, sat between us and we were chatting and laughing, and he just kept looking at me. And then it dawned on me that what he'd asked me, and I did want to go back with him, So, you know, we just sort of gave each other a look and a nod of the head and paid the bill and we left.
Once they left the nightclub, they got into a car with two other members of the group they were with, and according to Rebecca, as soon as those two people were dropped off and they were alone in the car, they started passionately kissing. She described them as being like magnets. I could have done without that. Now in the morning, she says, David fed her fresh strawberries. And this is a detail that seems to have obsessed the UK public, I think because it almost seems somewhat romantic.
Now.
In the interview, Rebecca explained how she felt when she left the hotel the next day.
It's very breathless, very very happy, smiling. Yeah. I got home and my mother said, oh, where have you slept? Worvey spent the nights and she could just tell her by the look of my face. She knew I didn't have to tell him.
She knew. That week Rebecca went to visit him again at his hotel before a match. She said she was very excited to see him, but after their encounter she felt used. Here's what she said.
I was very excited to see him, and it was literally in, you know, close off, get the action done and out within half an hour. And I left their feeling absolutely I felt like a whore. I felt really cheap, and I felt used and you and I said, I'm not not even why why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through that? Because emotionally I've been through a lot.
Despite feeling used, Rebecca fell hard for David, telling the media she adored him. She claimed they text each other thirty times a day, which, to point out, in the early two thousands would have cost you a lot of money when that wasn't a problem for becks No. She also alleges that they sexed twice a week. She recalled visiting a museum with her parents and having to rush to the bathroom to finish the sexting in there. I'm sure her parents were thrilled to hear this information in
the newspaper. Despite all the sexting, Rebecca said that over their four months relationship, they only had sex six times, and I just wonder was this due to a lack of opportunity. Well, if Posh wasn't there, I feel like they would have had a lot of opportunity. I think it's more that Beckham probably had other mistresses going on. Allegedly. In April two thousand and four, Rebecca sold her story to the News of the World in what was described as one of the last great kiss and tell stories.
The tabloid went to great lengths to get the scoop, so journalist Neville Thurlbeck said, securing the story was like a spy operation. He detailed the lengths he went to in his book Tabloid Secrets, The Stories Behind the Headlines Now. Neville said, his editor called him into his office and said, the biggest story of the year is about to be dropped. By this stage, Rebecca had enlisted the help of publicist Max Clifford, who was helping her sell a story to the paper.
Now.
In exchange for her story, Rebecca wanted one hundred thousand pounds, which by the end of the investigation ended up being three hundred and fifty thousand pounds. In exchange for the money, the newspaper wanted an interview with all the launchy texts and proof, so Neville flew to Madrid straight away and spent two weeks hiding out with Rebecca, trying to catch David out for the cheating. Can you imagine them sitting in the hotel room just sending off these rogue texts
to David Beckham. You think about it when you really like someone and you're hoping to get a text back. Well, this would have been magnified because she's trying to prove that this affair actually went on.
Yeah.
Well, the reason that they were trying to get Beckham to text them back was that he was always texting her from different numbers, and they needed proof that it actually was him. Isn't this just a major red flag if your partner is constantly changing their phone number. I understand that this is something that celebrities do in case someone finds out what their number is, but this seemed to be happening on a regular basis. The journalist said that he changed his phone number more times than men
changed their soul. Well, I feel like you'd have a pretty good excuse for it. Eventually, Rebecca did get a response to one of her calls, but all they heard down the line was a silence, and then a person on the other line burst into boyish giggles. Now Neville was about to pull the pin on the story until Rebecca discovered a piece of paper that had Beckham's Management's company details on it, and at the bottom, in David's
handwriting was his name followed by a phone number. Now that phone number match raunchy text that had been sent to Rebecca. Now the news of the affair broke with a five page spread in News of the World that Sunday morning. The story framed David as lonely and said Rebecca was there to comfort him. It also described Victoria and David's long distance marriage as troubled and said he
felt abandoned by Victoria. It seems like they're just trying to paint Victoria badly in this story, even though it's about him being a well. The tone running through the article was, of course, he was going to cheat if she wasn't there keeping an eye on him, And the article really didn't spare any detail. It printed the array of graphic text messages where David allegedly explained what he wanted to do to Rebecca in bed Now, Rebecca was
always portrayed as the villain in the press. Well, David was this lovable puppy dog who was lonely and needed attention. The public really felt like she was trying to make a career out of sleeping with a married man, and that she wanted to inflict pain on Victoria through the press that she was putting out there. I can see why people thought that, because it was publicized that she got three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for selling the story.
If she had perhaps come out and told the story for free, people may have been more kind towards her.
Yeah.
Well, her publicers probably feared that this would be the case, so asked her not to be named as the source in the first story that came out and the news of the world instead. It was bizarrely written from the perspective of an unnamed source who was apparently a close family friend of Rebecca's that she had confided in. This is a general tactic of journalists. They'll use an unnamed source when quite often it is the person involved in
the story who was giving these quotes. However, in this case, it all didn't quite add up, because why would Rebecca's friend one have copies of her hundreds of text messages, majority of which were of a sexual nature. And I can also hardly imagine a family friend giving this quote. So one of the quotes said David was a sensational lover. The sex was highly charged, explosive. They would make love
for hours. Surely the general public could read between the lines and knew that this story had come direct from Rebecca. There was no way she wasn't involved in it. The journalist did out of line about how she was approached for commt and didn't give any but surely people could
put two and two together. Oh definitely. It did feel like Victoria was being mocked when this story came out, because the text messages really ignited a national guessing game because some of the words had been censored out, so the public was encouraged to try and guess what words were missing. And can you imagine how that would have
felt for Victoria. It would have been absolutely soul destroying that everyone is getting fun out of your misery and all playing a game to guess these sordid things that your husband had said to his personal assistant. Well, David Beckham's team was quick to release a statement, and it must be noted that David didn't flat out deny having the affair. Instead, the release said, during the past few months, I have become accustomed to reading more and more ludicrous
stories about my private life. What appeared this morning is just one further example. The simple truth is that I'm happily married to a wonderful wife and two very special kids. Now, to make things more awkward, this was actually a pre planned family skiing holiday with her parents, sister and mother in law all coming along. God, wouldn't you try and pull out of this trip? Like that would be the worst? Yeah,
it would be. Now, David was granted compassionate leave by Real Madrid, which saw him miss the club's Champion League game to join the family vacation. Can you imagine the heckling he would have got on the ground had he played. I think he would have rather been there than on this family trip. I mean, it was so humiliating for him, but also for poor Victoria. Imagine having to be around all your family and you're trying to deal with all of this bullshit. Now, brand Beckham was out in full
force on the ski slopes the next morning. There were photos of the couple strolling hand in hand and frolicking in the snow. As you can imagine, this was a strategy from their PR team, who wanted to show a united force and to act as though there was no merit in these allegations. Victoria has opened up since sharing what it was really like to live through the scandal. She said, it was a nightmare from the minute we
opened the door in the morning. The press were there in cars and everywhere we went we would get followed. It was an absolute circus. In the Beckham documentary, she confirmed that it was the most difficult moment of her marriage. She said, it was the hardest period for us because it felt like the world was against us. And here's the thing. We were against each other, if I'm completely honest. You know, up until Madrid sometimes it felt like us
against everybody else. But we were together, we were connected, we had each other. But when we were in Spain, it didn't really feel like we had each other either, and that's sad. I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was and how it affected me. Now.
In another PR power play, less than a week after the article came out, Victoria appeared on Anton Deck's show Saturday Night Takeaway, and Victoria was interviewed by two kids who they called Mini Anton Deck, and the kids proceeded to ask her if they were planning on having any more kids. Here's what she said, definitely.
Want to have more babies, not just yet, but I definitely want to have more babies.
Are definitely more movies at the moment.
We're not planning on making babies at the moment, but we're what they call practicing to make them, which is really good fun.
In this interview, she also left a message on David's phone saying I love you, and she just came across as really happy and smiling and was joking around. You would never have guessed that behind the scenes so much was going on. What a perfect media performance for her, because you'd watch this and think, ah, maybe it is all bullshit. Meanwhile, the pr Beckham machine was working over time trying to just credit Rebecca Loos's reputation and clawback David's.
Newspapers were being fed stories about Rebecca's supposed lesbian affairs and affairs with three tennis players, whilst ex colleagues were giving derogatory quotes about her to journalists. How clear the media were trying to pay a certain picture of Rebecca. They tried to slut shame her and also make her out to be this fame hungry person. Yeah. Well, she very quickly became fed up with that and she was
over being called a liar. So she hit back by appearing on SkyTV for her first televised interview, and unsurprisingly, that interview drew in near record ratings, and on the show, she told the full story of how the affair unfolded, or allegedly unfolded. I should say, in the interview, she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't the cause of the problem in the marriage, saying the problems were
there long before she came into the picture. Now, the genuineness of her comments was called into question when during the interview she said that she never intended to break David and Victoria up, especially when there's young kids involved, and she hoped that they stayed together. Oh, she only just wanted to sell the story to the media to make lots of money. Well, yeah, she did make a further one hundred and fifty thousand pounds the interview. I
also don't understand because in that interview. She also said that she adored David and she still does. So if he had those types of feelings still for someone that you were apparently with, then why would you then wish that couple the best of luck and hope that they stayed together. It just doesn't come across as very genuine. No, it comes across as very jaded now in the press.
Rebecca also made derogatory remarks about Victoria's body, so she claimed that David said he hated Victoria's thin body and loved her like a sister, but they had a sexless marriage. She also admitted to using Victoria's hair clips while she showered in David's hotel room. Rebecca then went on to describe Victoria as a very cold, severe, unsmiling woman behind the scenes, and said she was very sour and difficult to get along with and was envious of Rebecca from
the first time they met. She finished by saying she didn't like standing next to a woman who looked better than her. Gosh, I can see why Posh was giving her the cold shit. If this, you know, she obviously was picking up that something wasn't right. I just love this bullshit that she's so happy that Posh and bexer together and she wants them to be happy with their kids. Yet, oh, she's not very nice and David said she was too
skinny and they had a sexless man. Also, she's just playing into all the headlines about Posh, how she never smiles and that she's too thin. Well, she's just weaponizing her body. She knows that that has been an obsession of the media, so she wanted to use it against her as well.
Well.
Max Clifford, who's Rebecca's publicist, he also made cutting comments about Victoria, telling The Evening Standard newspaper that no one had been harmed by the allegations, especially not Victoria. He said, for Victoria, it's given her what she craves most, saturation coverage. The only reason she's famous is because she's Missus Beckham. Her career disappeared years ago. He added, I wouldn't say she's enjoying it, but given the choice between no publicity
and this, she would choose this. It's quite hypocritical for the pr manager of Beckham's Misty, who has made a name for herself from sharing this story publicly, to say that. Well, also the fact that she has gone and seeked out a publicist to go and break the story. I mean, she did go on to appear on a number of reality shows like Love Ireland the Celebrity Edition. The thing that I disliked the most about this is the two women are being pitted against each other. You know, the
common denominator in this story is David Beckham. He is the one who is married and should be doing better by posh. But now we're putting these two women against each other. But why isn't she angry at David? It just seems like she's turned all of her anger towards Victoria, and probably because David doesn't want to be with her
and she blames Victoria. Now, as we mentioned earlier, these cheating allegations were touched upon in the Beckham doco recently now David addressed the controversy, saying there was some horrible stories which were difficult to deal with. It was the first time me and Victoria had been put under that kind of pressure in our marriage. Now, throughout the documentary they did not name Rebecca. However, following it, Rebecca appeared on Good Morning Britain accusing David of playing the victim
and making her look like a liar. She said she never got any warning that they would be talking about the scandal, which was a little bit hypocritical considering that she gave them no warning when she went to the press with her story. She said that she had tried very hard to let it go and move on, but it really bothered her that she felt she was made to look like the bad person and said it was both of their faults. Now, she said in hindsight that she wished she'd gone about this all in a very
different way now. If you're wondering what Rebecca has been up to in the last twenty years, she is working now as a yoga instructor and a small town of only two thousand, five hundred people. And before making the move, as you mentioned, Sophie, she was criticized for chasing fame, appearing on Celebrity Love Island and The X Factor. The Rebecca Lowes story opened up a floodgate, with other women coming forward to say they also had affairs with David.
A string of European models claimed they'd slept with David, including supermodel Esther Candees, who was reportedly hurried out of David's hotel room when Victoria made a surprise visit. David was also linked to a Spanish woman called Neuri Bermudez, who was allegedly seen repeatedly visiting his hotel. Now. She was a self confessed lifelong Real Madrid fan and claimed to have slept with at least six first team players, including David Beckham. She asked for twelve thousand pounds to
tell her story on a local front. Australian model Sarah Marbeck claimed that she had a two year affair with Beckham after she met him in Singapore in two thousand and one during Manchester United's Asian tour. Allegedly, just four hours after meeting in the hotel, the pair had sex. She also claims David got her a ticket to watch England play Italy in March two thousand and two in Leeds and when they met in the player's tunnel he
was all hot and sweaty. Now, Sarah said David told her he felt like he'd been hit with the sledgehammer when he saw her and loved the way she tied her hairback. Currently, David told Sarah he loved her and they even had pet nicknames for each other. David's was Peter Pan, and Sarah's was tinker Bell, while Victoria was Wendy. I found that so gross that Victoria is included in these nicknames. Now, Sarah said that the only time they stopped communicating over the two year period was when Posh
and Becks's second child, Romeo, was born. However, by August two thousand and two, the relationship was calling off with longer gaps between messages. So a week after Rebecca's story ran, Neville ran a star As story with the headline I'm Beck's love at number two. This time, the article was seven pages long and went into even more explicit detail. Now, you would have thought that the news of the World's story would have put a stop to David's alleged affairs,
but it didn't. In October two thousand and four, a beautician called daniel Heath publicly claimed she too had an affair with David. The worst bit is daniel had become friends with viv Victoria after visiting the Beckhams home to do Posha's spray tan. Now this story is really wild because Victoria first met Danielle at a beauty parlor, and later Victoria invited her over to their house. So she could do her spray tan. And when she first introduced
Danielle to David, she said, Danielle, this is David. David, you've probably shagged her already. I'm assuming that's part of her dry sense of humor because this was on the cusp of those cheating scandals coming out, so she probably jokingly assumed that everyone in Spain had already slept with her husband. It just makes me like her so much. I love that kind of humor. Now, two weeks later,
daniel alleges she did shag David. So she slept with David in the Beckham family home allegedly, and she said they were intimate again. A month later, now, David had allegedly flown Danielle out to Madrid to give him a spray tan for a photo shoot. These cheating allegations did make people question whether Victoria and David were in an open relationship, considering Posh had jokingly said, oh, have you
shagged him already? But I actually just think that was part of our sense of humor and the timing of it all, because this alleged affair happened only four months after Rebecca Loser story broke. I think people are questioning it more so because they think, well, why would you stay with your partner if he was constantly cheating on you? Like she must be okay.
Yeah.
The saddest part of this story is that Victoria announced she was three months pregnant with their third child, just a day before David allegedly slept with Dannielle. Now, David has denied these claims and put out a joint statement with Victoria, saying it is even more distressing when we are expecting our third child. The allegations are completely and totally untrue and are in the hands of our lawyers. They added, we are sick and tired of people trying to make money out of our family.
Wow.
Well.
In two thousand and seven, David again shocked the football world by announcing he was coming to America. So he signed a five year deal with La Galaxy worth three point five million dollars. At the time, it was reported he was taking a seventy percent pay cut. However, the
contract had unique stipulations. These stipulations allowed him to take an undisclosed percentage of all club revenue, as well as the right to purchase an MLS expansion team at a fixed rate upon retirement when they talk about club revenue, So David got a cut out of everything, including beer that was bought at the game's, uniforms, merchandise, everything, So
it was a very lucrative deal. I wonder if this was to fit him under their salary cap, like I'm assuming a lot of the other players weren't receiving nearly as much money. But it is complex because they did have a two million dollar salary cap, and obviously David Beckham's salary exceeded that. But they actually invented this thing they now call the Beckham cap, where you can add one player who is worth way more than everyone else. I mean, it was just obviously made because they desperately
needed him to join their football league. Now, all of these little loopholes meant that his annual salary turned into more than five hundred million dollars, making it one of the most lucrative contracts in sporting history. This move was also very much welcomed by Victoria, who was keen for a fresh start and more privacy from the press. She even landed her own show called Coming to America, and in it she poked fun at the Rebecca louse scandal. So as part of the plot, Victoria is looking for
a personal assistant and outlines her criteria. Here's what she said.
She can't be too good looking, she can't be too thin.
It's all to be about it. In the show, Victoria's prospective PA asks if she'll be assisting David, and she comes back with this.
No, why do you want to No?
No, I mean eate. If him attractive, he's no, he's not ugly. This was your typical naughty's reality show. It had a lot of dramatic music and cutaway shots, and it's quite ironic because after this scene Victoria does employ the new PA. We actually don't see David much in this show at all, his own in the start, at this weird photoshoot that they're doing together, and then in the last scene when he and Victoria arrive at the airport and enter America. Now, despite having a scandal free
few years, in twenty ten, another cheating scandal hit. This time it was a sex worker called Irma Nikki, who alleges David hired her to have sex within five times in hotel rooms across London and New York in two thousand and seven. Now David emphatically denies these allegations, calling them ridiculous. It must be noted that Irma actually didn't have any evidence. The validity of her comments were also called into question when she claimed that David answered the
door with wet hair. Now, looking at this time frame, his hair has been so highly photographed. He probably has the most photographed hair in the world. So his lawyer was able to go through and pick the dates and actually say he had a Grade one haircut when you currently caught up with him, and his hair wasn't long enough for it to stay wet at all. It's terrible because I do feel like some of these people are
being a bit opportunistic, especially when they don't have any proof. Yeah. Well, David responded by suing the publication for twenty five million dollars, saying it caused him and his family great anguish and
emotional distress and adversely affected his personal and professional life. Now, in twenty twelve, there was a very fleeting rumor that he had an affair with opera sing at Katherine Jenkins, And this was the time of social media, so people actually had platforms to defend themselves, and Catherine came out
on Twitter to deny the allegation. She said that she'd only met him twice at the Military Awards in twenty ten and on a night out at the West End that Prince Harry also happened to attend, and she said that she never arranged to meet up with him and nothing went on between them. So this was quite a different allegation because she actually didn't make the allegation herself, and this was the first time it was someone who actually had their own profile. So the last cheating scandal
is bizarre. In twenty eighteen, a rumor started circulating on Twitter that David had an affair with his then six year old daughter's school teacher. The rumor got legs and suddenly it was being reported that he got her pregnant and a divorce announcement was pending. This rumor was so strong that bookies stopped taking bets on whether David and Victoria were getting a divorce, as it was treated as a surefire thing. This whole story, if you can believe, it,
was generated by one rogue tweet. It wasn't even by anyone verified. It was just a random person saying that they'd heard that David had had an affair with his daughter's teacher and they just knew, but don't ask them how, and that's where it all spiraled out of control. Now, the couple did release a statement calling it a crock of shit. This was probably the strongest statement they've ever put out. They said there is no statement due for divorce, and this is fake social media and that it's all
very bizarre and an embarrassing waste of time. Imagine the poor teacher, like, how embarrassing for her being dragged into this. Well, it turns out that David had never even met Harper's teacher, and the father actually came out blasting the rumors and the media, saying it was nonsense and confirmed that his daughter had never even met David Bergell. Now, a lot of good came from Possenbeck's move to America. Victoria made
a seamless transition from music to the fashion world. So when she left the Spice scales, Victoria walked in runways, edited magazines, and had lucrative brand deals, but her dream was to cut it as a credible fashion designer. So fashion has always been victorious passion more so than music, and she launched her self titled fashion line in two thousand and eight, and this has been supported by the upper echelon of the fashion industry, including Anna Wintour, who
is a regular guest at her shows. It's pretty impressive because her label has been regularly shown during New York and London Fashion Weeks and also made its debut at Paris Fashion Week in twenty twenty two and again in twenty twenty three. And her clothes are a far cry from her nineties posh spice look. She is known for
creating clothes that are very streamlined and esthetic. Now, following the success of her fashion label, Victoria launched Victoria Beckham Beauty in twenty nineteen, right before the pandemic, and her beauty line has now helped grow both of the businesses, so it's now at a stage where revenue is up by forty percent in twenty twenty one.
Wow.
And as for a musical return, Victoria has been involved in a few Spice Girls reunions over the years. The first was in two thousand and eight when their Greatest Hits album was released, and later during the twenty twelve London Olympics closing ceremony in twenty nineteen, fans were excited when the band teased that they would be holding a reunion tour. However, this was quickly squashed days later when
Victoria told Vogue, I'm not going on tour now. While Victoria made it quite clear that she was not going to be involved, the rest of the girls went ahead on tour without her, and they launched their Spice World Tour in twenty nineteen as a four piece band without Victoria, and they did perform in the UK and Ireland.
Now.
They played thirteen sold out dates and played to seven hundred thousand fans and earned themselves seventy eight point two million dollars in ticket sales. Victoria wrote on Instagram, I won't be joining my girls on stage again, but being in the Spice Skulls was a hugely important part of my life and I wish them so much love and
fun as they go back on tour next year. I know they will put on an amazing show and the fantastic fans past and present are going to have a wonderful time, and that is where we are going to leave you. I can't wait to see what the next couple of years hold for Victoria and David, hopefully not too many more cheating scandals. It feels like they are
on the right path. Finally, I hate to admit it, but I have found myself googling Victoria Beckham a lot recently after doing this deep dive, and I've been obsessed with trying to find clips of her singing the Spice Girls songs live, because it's been so much said about how she never got to sing as much as the other girls. Well, she hardly had any solo bits, so it is hard even watching the film clips to try
and catch a bit of her voice. It's funny because after I watched the Beckham documentary, I fell in love with David Beckham, but I think I slowly fell out of love with him as this series has gone on, and fell in love instead with Victoria Beckham. She just seems like such an incredible woman and I've thoroughly enjoyed putting this series together. Thank you so much for listening to it. If you have enjoyed it, could you please make sure you leave us a rating on Spotify and
also Apple podcast. And I'm very excited for next week's series. I don't know how many details we can give out yet, but it is an Australian story. A lot of you have been asking for an Australian deep dive. We will be delivering this and we cannot wait for it. This episode was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders past and present.