November 29, 2023 • 48 mins
The Beckhams had become English royalty. The public were obsessed with the couple and their every move made headlines. No one knew though that the Beckham juggernaut was about to go international. A shock move to Madrid put Posh and Beck’s marriage under the spotlight. Then came the onslaught of cheating allegations that rocked the marriage.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You know now.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
That's gonna be true and kind of those kings. I
shouldn't have said.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Then came the onslaught of cheating allegations that rocked the marriage.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
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?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
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
(01:15):
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
(01:37):
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
(01:59):
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
(02:21):
went down.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Is you wait back to normal?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Can I check?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Oh no, Jerry, didn't you on?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
But Jerry?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Was that really smart?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Two?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Number two is great?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
You can afford Number two is?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Can't you.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
All?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
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
(03:05):
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
(03:25):
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
(03:47):
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
(04:09):
he said.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
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?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Now?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Those are the three questions everybody in the audience out
there and the media all eager to hear your views
on David wearing your.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Knickers to star with.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, I'm the only person that actually wears my knickers.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
You are, but if you'd like to borrow them, I can.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Play the headlines now Parky borrows Poshi's knickers.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I liked how she tried to divert the question, but
Michael again asked her, are you anarexic? Let's throw to
what she responded.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Now, are you anarexic?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
How do you know that?
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I know?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Because I eat anorexic?
Speaker 5 (04:56):
You eat regularly?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
No, I mean I have a perfectly healthy dar.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
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
(05:20):
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.
(05:42):
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
(06:05):
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
(06:27):
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,
(06:48):
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.
(07:11):
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,
(07:34):
I'm not. Then later down the track, if she does
feel comfortable to talk about it, then she lied to
the public.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
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
(08:02):
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
(08:23):
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
(08:45):
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
(09:08):
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
(09:28):
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
(09:51):
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
(10:12):
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
(10:34):
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
(10:55):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
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
(12:09):
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
(12:30):
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,
(12:51):
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
(13:13):
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
(13:33):
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
(13:53):
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
(14:14):
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
(14:36):
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
(14:57):
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
(15:18):
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
(15:39):
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
(16:01):
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
(16:22):
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.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
He said, You're dating without that one of the most
attractive men.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
No, I'm not dating and we've got married.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
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
(17:00):
jealous of each other?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Case?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
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.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
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.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
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
(18:11):
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.
(18:34):
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
(18:57):
four month affair. Here's what Becka said about that night.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
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.
(19:25):
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.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
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
(20:01):
a detail that seems to have obsessed the UK public,
I think because it almost seems somewhat romantic.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
In the interview, Rebecca explained how she felt when she
left the hotel the next day.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
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.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
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.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
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
(21:23):
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.
(21:46):
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.
(22:09):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
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
(22:43):
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.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
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
(23:21):
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
(23:41):
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
(24:04):
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
(24:26):
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
(24:46):
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.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
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
(25:27):
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.
(25:50):
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
(26:12):
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
(26:34):
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
(26:56):
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
(27:18):
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
(27:41):
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.
(28:03):
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.
(28:25):
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
(28:45):
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.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Want to have more babies, not just yet, but I
definitely want to have more babies.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Are definitely more movies at the moment.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
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.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
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
(29:44):
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
(30:06):
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,
(30:28):
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,
(30:50):
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
(31:11):
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.
(31:34):
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
(31:54):
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
(32:14):
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.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Well.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
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.
(32:46):
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
(33:08):
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
(33:28):
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
(33:50):
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
(34:11):
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
(34:31):
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
(34:54):
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
(35:16):
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
(35:40):
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
(36:02):
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
(36:25):
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
(36:45):
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
(37:09):
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
(37:30):
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
(37:52):
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?
(38:14):
Like she must be okay.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
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.
(38:40):
They added, we are sick and tired of people trying
to make money out of our family.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Well.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
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
(39:05):
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
(39:26):
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.
(39:48):
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
(40:08):
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.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
She can't be too good looking, she can't be too thin.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
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.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
No, why do you want to No?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
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
(41:00):
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
(41:23):
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,
(41:46):
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
(42:09):
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
(42:29):
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
(42:52):
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
(43:13):
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
(43:37):
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,
(43:58):
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
(44:21):
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,
(44:42):
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
(45:04):
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,
(45:26):
so it's now at a stage where revenue is up
by forty percent in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5 (45:31):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
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
(45:54):
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.
Speaker 3 (46:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
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
(46:34):
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
(46:55):
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
(47:15):
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.
(47:37):
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.
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.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You know now.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
That's gonna be true and kind of those kings. I
shouldn't have said.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Then came the onslaught of cheating allegations that rocked the marriage.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
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?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
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
(01:15):
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
(01:37):
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
(01:59):
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
(02:21):
went down.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Is you wait back to normal?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Can I check?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Oh no, Jerry, didn't you on?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
But Jerry?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Was that really smart?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Two?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Number two is great?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
You can afford Number two is?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Can't you.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
All?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
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
(03:05):
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
(03:25):
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
(03:47):
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
(04:09):
he said.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
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?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Now?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Those are the three questions everybody in the audience out
there and the media all eager to hear your views
on David wearing your.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Knickers to star with.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, I'm the only person that actually wears my knickers.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
You are, but if you'd like to borrow them, I can.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Play the headlines now Parky borrows Poshi's knickers.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I liked how she tried to divert the question, but
Michael again asked her, are you anarexic? Let's throw to
what she responded.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Now, are you anarexic?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
How do you know that?
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I know?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Because I eat anorexic?
Speaker 5 (04:56):
You eat regularly?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
No, I mean I have a perfectly healthy dar.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
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
(05:20):
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.
(05:42):
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
(06:05):
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
(06:27):
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,
(06:48):
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.
(07:11):
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,
(07:34):
I'm not. Then later down the track, if she does
feel comfortable to talk about it, then she lied to
the public.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
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
(08:02):
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
(08:23):
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
(08:45):
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
(09:08):
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
(09:28):
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
(09:51):
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
(10:12):
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
(10:34):
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
(10:55):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
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.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
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
(12:09):
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
(12:30):
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,
(12:51):
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
(13:13):
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
(13:33):
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
(13:53):
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
(14:14):
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
(14:36):
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
(14:57):
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
(15:18):
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
(15:39):
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
(16:01):
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
(16:22):
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.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
He said, You're dating without that one of the most
attractive men.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
No, I'm not dating and we've got married.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
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
(17:00):
jealous of each other?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Case?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
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.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
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.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
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
(18:11):
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.
(18:34):
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
(18:57):
four month affair. Here's what Becka said about that night.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
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.
(19:25):
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.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
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
(20:01):
a detail that seems to have obsessed the UK public,
I think because it almost seems somewhat romantic.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
In the interview, Rebecca explained how she felt when she
left the hotel the next day.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
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.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
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.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
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
(21:23):
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.
(21:46):
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.
(22:09):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
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
(22:43):
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.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
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
(23:21):
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
(23:41):
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
(24:04):
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
(24:26):
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
(24:46):
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.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
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
(25:27):
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.
(25:50):
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
(26:12):
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
(26:34):
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
(26:56):
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
(27:18):
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
(27:41):
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.
(28:03):
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.
(28:25):
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
(28:45):
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.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Want to have more babies, not just yet, but I
definitely want to have more babies.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Are definitely more movies at the moment.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
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.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
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
(29:44):
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
(30:06):
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,
(30:28):
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,
(30:50):
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
(31:11):
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.
(31:34):
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
(31:54):
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
(32:14):
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.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Well.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
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.
(32:46):
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
(33:08):
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
(33:28):
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
(33:50):
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
(34:11):
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
(34:31):
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
(34:54):
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
(35:16):
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
(35:40):
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
(36:02):
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
(36:25):
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
(36:45):
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
(37:09):
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
(37:30):
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
(37:52):
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?
(38:14):
Like she must be okay.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
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.
(38:40):
They added, we are sick and tired of people trying
to make money out of our family.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Well.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
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
(39:05):
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
(39:26):
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.
(39:48):
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
(40:08):
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.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
She can't be too good looking, she can't be too thin.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
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.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
No, why do you want to No?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
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
(41:00):
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
(41:23):
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,
(41:46):
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
(42:09):
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
(42:29):
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
(42:52):
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
(43:13):
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
(43:37):
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,
(43:58):
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
(44:21):
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,
(44:42):
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
(45:04):
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,
(45:26):
so it's now at a stage where revenue is up
by forty percent in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5 (45:31):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
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
(45:54):
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.
Speaker 3 (46:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
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
(46:34):
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
(46:55):
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
(47:15):
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.
(47:37):
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.
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