Long before Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, another singer and athlete pairing captivated the world: Posh and Becks.
Netflix is spicing things up with “Beckham,” a four-part docuseries about the fabled soccer star that also chronicles David and Victoria Beckham’s 26-year romance, along with his triumphs on the pitch. Frequently, David counts Victoria as one of the reasons he made it through trying times, including when he received death threats after being ejected from a game during the 1998 World Cup.
But the pair, who share four children, also faced challenges, including relocating as David changed teams and widespread tabloid reports of David's alleged infidelity after his 2003 transfer to Real Madrid.
“It was the hardest period for us, because it felt like the world was against us,” Victoria says of dealing with the resulting attention and scrutiny. “And here’s the thing, we were against each other, if I’m being completely honest.”
Victoria says that, until David’s transfer, “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.”
Here are the docuseries' biggest revelations.
David Beckham stood in linefor 12 hours to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state
Episode 1, titled “The Kick,” details the couple’s first meeting. David says he spotted the Spice Girl on TV and told his Manchester United teammate Gary Neville, “See that one there? I’m gonna marry that one.”
Victoria had seen the “really good looking” David in magazines. She didn’t like soccer, but went to a game in 1997, where they met.
“That first time that I speak to her, I just fancied her,” David says.
It was the same for Victoria: “I just fancied him, and it was simple as that.” The singer wrote her phone number on an airplane ticket and told David, “You better call me.”
“Straight away, I was just like, ‘OK, this is it,'" David says. "And it’s going to move fast.’”
Victoria says her manager advised that she keep her romance a secret. So the two met in a parking lot or garage, where they shared their first kiss.
Neville remembers David being “on the phone to Victoria every second” and taking frequent trips to see her.
“I didn’t care when I saw her, how much I saw her,” David affirms. “If it was me driving down to London to see her for seven minutes, I did it.”
“He used to do anything to just try and spend time with me,” Victoria remembers, recalling when he would charter a two-seater plane to visit her on tour. “He would come over literally just for a few hours, and then go back,” she says.
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David and Victoria welcomed their firstborn, son Brooklyn Beckham, via C-section on March 4, 1999. And while she was still numbed from the epidural, David asked her to do his hair before announcing the baby’s arrival to the press, “which I’m not sure she was over the moon about,” David says with a smile.
David found the birth “the most amazing thing,” but he immediately began to worry about how he would protect Brooklyn. He rejected Victoria’s offer that he sleep in the hospital bed with her and the baby the first night. “I said, ‘I’m sleeping with my head against the door,’ because I was paranoid someone was going to steal him,” David says. Victoria says there were threats of kidnapping Brooklyn following the baby's birth.
The episode ends on a high note with footage of David and Victoria’s wedding reception. The two wed July 4, 1999, at Luttrellstown Castle near Dublin. At the reception, the couple wore coordinating purple outfits which today make David wonder “What were we thinking?” One thing is for certain: his bride “was the biggest reason that I got through that time.”
See photos:Brooklyn Beckham, David, Victoria Beckham's son, marries Nicola Peltz
The docuseries delves into 2004 reports of David’s alleged affair after his move to Real Madrid in its final episode, “What Makes David Run.”
"Every time that we woke up we felt there was something else," says David. "I think we both felt at the time that we were not losing each other, but drowning."
He estimates 10 to 15 paparazzi snapped him dropping Brooklyn off at school. "It was a nightmare, from the minute we opened the door in the morning," Victoria says. "The press were there in cars, and everywhere we went we would get followed."
David says he doesn’t know how they got through that time. “Victoria is everything to me,” he says. “To see her hurt was incredibly difficult, but we’re fighters, and at that time we needed to fight for each other. We needed to fight for our family, and what we had was worth fighting for. But ultimately, it’s our private life.”
"Beckham" director Fisher Stevens doesn't ask David directly whether he cheated and says in an interview that it wasn't of interest. “What's inspiring and what I was interested in is ‘Was it (their relationship) almost over there?’ ‘How did you get through it?’ ‘What was important to you?” Stevens says.
Stevens attributes the couple's longevity to still being in love. “I do think work ethic and discipline is part of it — and there's just this crazy connection between the two of them,” he says. “It's sometimes been a bit wobbly, but it is super tight, and they feed off each other still. And it's very nice. It's sweet.”
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