Matching leather outfits fit for "The Matrix." Alleged affairs. The nickname "Golden Balls"?!?
Here are some strange things about the Beckhams’ marriage.
All those things that David Beckham is so famous for now — his athletic talent,
his hair, his chiseled face — were actually not what first attracted Victoria Beckham to him.
When she first eyed David at the Manchester United players' lounge, it was the fact that
David was close to his family. In a letter she wrote to her 18-year-old self for Vogue,
Victoria reminisced about this touching first impression, noting:
"He's not even in the first team at this stage — you are the famous one. And he has such a cute
smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you."
This was a recurring theme in their relationship. In 2015, when she spoke at the 92nd Street Y
in New York City, Victoria stressed again how much she liked the fact that David was sitting
with his family instead of drinking with the other players. According to Glamour, she said:
"I'm really close to my family, he's very close to his and I just thought that was really nice."
Family has been everything for the Beckhams. At the 92nd Street Y, Victoria said that her
own parents have set an example for her of how to keep love alive in a long marriage.
The Beckhams are known for their fashion choices, which have also proved lucrative,
like David Beckham's clothing line with H&M. But the two of them have made some risky
choices over the years — oftentimes wearing matching outfits together.
"It just seemed like a really good idea at the time, you know? Umm.."
"To wear matching outfits together?"
"It really, it really did."
But David told H&M Magazine in 2012 that he had "no regrets" about what he once wore,
although he does admit he looks back and wonders: "What were we thinking?"
When asked about her fashion regrets in 2009, Victoria told Time:
"People always say, 'Do you cringe?' And I say,
'Not at all.' Everything I've done in the past has made me what I am now."
Their shared courage in experimenting with clothing has also led to her fashion line,
which has — like the designer herself — faced many evolutions over the years.
Sales dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic years, for example, and Victoria was forced
to rethink her brand. She's also admitted to The Guardian that her preference to wear layers of
clothing wasn't necessarily reflective of consumer's preferences. She said:
"As I've gotten into fashion, the more layers of clothes I have worn.
I've been burying myself under clothes. But in Miami, if you go out at night in a midi
length skirt and a pussy-bow blouse, people think you've lost your mind."
Confessing that her outfit taste in London doesn't reflect the rest of the world, she added:
"But Miami has opened my eyes to the fact that looking feminine and curvy
is so important to so many women."
It's not all romance with David and Victoria Beckham, though there's plenty of that.
The two are hard-working entrepreneurs, on top of having the CV of a former Spice Girl
and soccer superstar. But they didn't sit very long on those laurels. As previously mentioned,
Victoria stormed the world of fashion and started her own successful fashion
line. What was the deep motivation behind her decision to do this? Victoria explained to Time:
"It's just always been something that I've wanted to do.
It's my passion. I love women's bodies. I love luxury. I've waited a long time to do this,
and I didn't want to do it until I could do it properly."
When Victoria claims fashion is her passion, she's not just saying it arbitrarily. In a charmingly
intimate interview with The Guardian, Victoria offered the outlet an inside look at her home and
family life, as well as her business world — and it's very clear the two spheres overlap. She said:
"When I'm lying in bed I think about the next collection. That makes me sound insane,
doesn't it? That I'm getting into bed with David Beckham and thinking about clothes."
Insane, maybe — but driven, for sure. But ultimately, it's her loved ones
that take priority. In the sweet letter she wrote to her younger self for Vogue,
Victoria answered the question of how to be a successful working mother:
"What you will realize is that by working hard, yet always putting family first,
it will be possible to achieve that balance."
For soccer buffs, David Beckham's performance in the 1998 World Cup
is hard to forget. England was playing Argentina when the latter's captain, Diego Simeone,
pushed David. He fell and kicked Simeone, though Firstpost called it "the gentlest of kicks."
A ref gave David a red card, so he was removed from the field, and without him,
Argentina won 4-3. England's loss was completely blamed on David, especially by British tabloids.
The rage was so ferocious that some outlets even gave out a copy of David's face for dartboards.
But David was able to rebound from such vitriol. He continued to play hard;
he was named England's captain in 2000, and in 2002, he scored a penalty goal against Argentina,
solidifying England's win. He was reinstated as a superstar and hero of the country,
but not without paying the price. Victoria Beckham was by his side through all of this and took note
of his turnaround. In a joint 2008 interview with Michael Parkinson of the BBC, he asked her why
the media was frosty toward her. She assumed it was for her stern facial expressions in photos,
saying that when she feels down about it, all she has to do is think of David. In reference to
his apparent inability to do anything wrong in the eyes of English people, she joked:
"I call him 'Golden Balls' now."
An embarrassed David covered his face in his hands at this,
leading Victoria to joke further that it's one of those things she shouldn't have said.
But the name definitely stuck — and we're fine with it.
It's unfortunate but inevitable that a famous couple with a long-running marriage would
face the odd affair allegation. In 2004, David Beckham was photographed in Madrid at a nightclub
with a mystery woman. According to E! News, it was later discovered that she was his assistant,
Rebecca Loos. Nevertheless, the media had a frenzy about a potential affair,
and the situation was not helped by the fact that Loos
later alleged that there was infidelity in an interview with Sky One. She claimed:
"I think the problems were in their marriage
long before I came into the picture. I in no way intended to break up their marriage
especially when there are young children involved. I hope they stay together."
For his part, David denied the allegations.
In a statement released after Loos' story broke, he said:
"During the past few months I have become accustomed to reading more and more ludicrous
stories about my private life. What appeared this morning is just one further example.
The simple truth is that I am very happily married. I have a wonderful wife and two
very special kids. There is nothing any third party can do to change these facts."
There were other allegations over the years, including one from a former nanny who claimed
that David and Victoria Beckham's "marriage was a sham," according to E! News. The couple even got
their lawyers involved. But clearly, they were able to ride this speculative wave and move on.
David Beckham suffered an aired email leak in 2017 that revealed
some private wishes that he'd probably have preferred to be kept under wraps.
In fact, some of the dirty laundry was admittedly a bit cringe.
According to USA Today, he allegedly once requested that UNICEF compensate him with over
$7,000 for flying to a charity event, despite the fact that a sponsor was already getting him there.
That wasn't all. According to the Daily Mail, the soccer star was also busted for allegedly
asking the BBC to cover his flights to see his son, Brooklyn, play soccer. Unsurprisingly,
People were a bit confused considering he very much has the means to cover his own airfare.
Perhaps most embarrassing of all was that David was busted for supposedly wanting a knighthood.
After he found out he wasn't nominated for the honor, he reportedly called the committee, quote,
"unappreciative c---s." Never one to mince words, apparently!
According to The Mirror, he also allegedly said:
"I expected nothing less. It's a disgrace to be honest and if
I was American I would have got something like this 10 years ago."
Many subsequently speculated, with all of the information leaked, whether David's charity
work was just a PR stunt to look like a worthy candidate. Not only that, but others wondered if
his flattery toward Queen Elizabeth II on social media was another play to get royal attention.
To be fair, David has already been honored once with an Officer of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire, also called an OBE. So hey, that's something.
There was once a rumor going around that David and Victoria Beckham named their
first-born son Brooklyn because that's where he was conceived.
But Victoria set the record straight in her 2014 autobiography "Learning to Fly"
when she explained that the origin of his name was a little less exciting. She wrote:
"It was when we were in Marbella that we came up with the name Brooklyn. We already knew he was a
boy and so I knew he could end up a footballer, so it had to be a name that was a bit blokey."
Victoria also wrote that she was enamored with the name Brooke, so it wasn't a huge
reach when they landed on Brooklyn. She further admitted that she and David had always loved that
borough of New York. Plus, it had a special place in their hearts anyway. She added:
"It was only afterwards that I realized how appropriate it was because it was in
New York that I found out I was pregnant and where David came after the World Cup."
Their son, Brooklyn, was born in 1999, and his name swept through
the world like wildfire. The New York Post wrote in 2014 that Brooklyn had
become one of the most popular baby names in the United States, more for girls than boys.