Why Victoria Beckham STILL can’t escape Rebecca Loos

She became the most famous woman on the planet after her sensational claims of an affair with David Beckham in 2004. At the time, he was England’s most famous footballer and one half of showbiz’s hottest couple with his Spice Girl wife, Victoria.

Now, 17 years on, David’s former PA, Rebecca Loos, has dragged up pain and hurt from the past as she opens up about her journey to fame, as part of BBC documentary 21st Century Celebrity. Reflecting on how she was wooed by deals worth thousands, including a proposed sex tape, she says her overnight notoriety left her feeling “very unhappy, lonely, and lost”.

Remembering the moment she first told her story, Rebecca, 43, says, “I just felt the need to be truthful. Whether you’ve done something that’s right or wrong, it was kind of just eating me up. I was living a lie and keeping secrets. Max Clifford [a former celebrity agent who died in 2017] said to me he’d negotiate an exclusive with the newspaper and that if I was willing to tell absolutely all the juicy details, then I would get up to five or six hundred thousand pounds. Ridiculous money.”

Rebecca claimed she and David had conducted an affair after the footballer had signed to Real Madrid. She alleged they had sex up to four times while Posh was at home in Manchester with Brooklyn, then five, and one-year-old Romeo. David, now 45, vehemently denied Rebecca’s claims, referring to them as “ludicrous”, adding, “The simple truth is that I am very happily married. I have a wonderful wife and two very special kids”.

Shortly after the allegations, the family headed to France for a ski trip and were snapped looking very loved-up, smiling and joking together. But further claims of infidelity were to come, including with model Sarah Marbeck in 2001 (the claims surfaced in 2004) and beautician Danielle Heath in 2004 – both allegations he strongly denied.

Posh and David suffered a difficult few years, but eventually emerged stronger than ever. Posh moved the family to Spain to be with David and they welcomed son Cruz in 2005. Two years later, they uprooted to LA and daughter Harper arrived in 2011.

In the recent bombshell documentary, Rebecca reveals how she was told that making a sex tape could earn her a £1m fortune.

“Max Clifford sat me down and said, ‘Right, let’s do a sex tape, you can get a million pounds’. I said, ‘No, I’m very uncomfortable doing that’. It was bad enough that I’d admitted to having done the things I’d done,” she said.

Yet Rebecca went on to capitalise on her fame, earning up to £100,000 within weeks with publicity deals, before going on to star in reality shows such as Celebrity Love Island, The X Factor and, most controversially, Channel 5’s The Farm, where she was targeted by animal rights’ protesters after masturbating a pig to collect its semen.

She admits her life was “crazy” and “exciting”, but reveals her fame came at a cost after the public quickly turned against her – branding her a “gold digger”.

Check out: Celebrity Love Island 2005 - where are they now?

“I kind of ended up forgetting who I really was,” she said. “I got hooked in and towards the end I was very unhappy and lonely, and lost really.”

Admitting she found living with her public persona “too exhausting”, Rebecca dropped out of the limelight, relocating to Norway to become a yoga teacher. She’s now married to a doctor, Sven Skaiaa, with whom she has sons Magnus, 11, and Leo, 10, and says she fully accepts her past. “I can’t regret things. Yes, of course I would have done things differently, but it’s a part of my path and it kind of took me to where I am today and I don’t think I want to be anywhere else.”

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‘Victoria will be most hurt for her children’

Closer’s psychological therapist, Emma Kenny, says, “The rehashing of a past relationship trauma – like an allegation that your partner has been unfaithful – can be traumatic and open up old wounds. As much as Victoria may think it’s been put to bed, something like this will no doubt haunt her and bring up the past hurt.

“It can also bring up old insecurities and make you question all the hard work you did to move past it. Plus it can potentially bring up past resentment, despite having recovered from it as a couple. But more so for Victoria, I think this will really cut her deep because of her children. They are older now and Harper probably isn’t aware of what went on with Rebecca.

“Victoria’s a fiercely protective mother and will want to shield them from this at all costs. I also think it was probably traumatising for Rebecca in the past. But I think she’s done this documentary now because success is the best revenge. She’s built a life for herself, is happily married and is strong – and now wants to speak out.”

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