Victoria Beckham reveals source of body-image and food issues in upcoming documentary: sources

News.com.au

2 days ago

Victoria Beckham has been famous for more than 30 years — but life in the spotlight has taken its toll.
A new Netflix docu-series, premiering in September, reveals how years of negative attention led to body-image issues and a restricted diet, sources told Page Six.
'When you look back in hindsight at the media environment in the '90s, it was super hard,' said an industry insider who confirmed that Victoria, 51, discusses her struggles in the three-part series, Victoria Beckham.
'There was a huge scrutiny on Victoria's appearance and her weight,' the insider added. 'I think the audience will have some understanding of what she went through.'
Victoria has even admitted 'there are tears' in the filmed footage. 'And it did occur to me the other day, what am I going to think when I see those tears on a huge screen? Or on an iPhone?' she told Bloomberg in May.
The series follows the Spice Girl-turned-designer as she prepares to stage the biggest fashion show of her career, for her eponymous clothing brand during the September 2024 Paris Fashion Week.
Page Six is told that her son Brooklyn and his wife, Nicola Peltz, are seen briefly in the documentary, which was filmed before the estrangement that has splintered the Beckham family.
Victoria's mistreatment by the public and British media was chronicled in the 2023 Emmy-winning Netflix docu-series Beckham, about her husband, David, as she recalled being the subject of X-rated chants from crowds at his soccer games, saying, 'It's embarrassing, it's hurtful.'
Sources said that, in the new doc, Victoria looks back on archival footage including when TV presenter Chris Evans pushed her to be weighed live on air in 1999 — just two months after she gave birth to Brooklyn.
Such scrutiny apparently pushed her to be extremely controlling of her image, working out every day and having a highly controlled diet.
David, 50, has said, 'Unfortunately I'm married to someone that has eaten the same thing for the last 25 years.
'Since I met her she only eats grilled fish, steamed vegetables,' he revealed on the River Cafe Table 4 podcast last year, 'She will very rarely deviate from that.'
Her rare calorie splurge? 'Tequila,' as she once told Net-a-Porter.
'I never want to look like I'm complaining, but there were times in the past that I haven't felt confident enough to sit on a beach and watch my children play,' Victoria told Grazia magazine last year.
However, she insisted she's finally realised that 'life's too short' for constant calorie-counting.
The docu-series focuses more broadly on how Victoria went from being Posh Spice to making it in the fashion industry — which hasn't always respected her — and facing challenges to keep the business afloat.
'It was a big shift to go from Spice Girl to basically being a stay-at-home mum, with no friends or family around her' after the pop group broke up in 2000, said a friend. 'She had to re-establish her identity.'
Victoria debuted her first collection at New York Fashion Week in 2008 with a focus on body-skimming dresses that, she admitted, were heavily influenced by French designer Roland Mouret.
The two formerly shared a manager — American Idol creator Simon Fuller — but Mouret has told The Guardian: 'Victoria Beckham and I were never friends … She did, however, manage to teach me one thing: I'm a f***ing great mentor.
Over the years, Victoria managed to develop her own distinct, sharply tailored style and gain esteem from fashion insiders including Anna Wintour, who is a regular on her front row.
Victoria readily admits in the docu-series that the brand has struggled and she nearly lost the business at one point, sources told Page Six.
Back in 2017, the private equity group NEO invested £30 million ($63 million) for an undisclosed but significant minority stake. After a tough 2022, Victoria, David and NEO injected £6.9m ($14 million) to keep the business going.
The next year, sales soared by 52 per cent with a big jolt from Victoria's hugely successful beauty business.
At this point, she has been a fashion designer for far longer than she was a pop star.
'I've been very defined by a four-year period in my life when I was in the Spice Girls,' Victoria told Bloomberg, 'And I am so proud of that. But with that came all the preconceptions. I've been in the fashion industry creating my own collections for nearly 20 years. And it's taken this long for me to feel confident enough in what I do and my brand, knowing that now is the time that I can talk about my past.'
When the Beckham doco premiered, many viewers were surprised and delighted by Victoria's humour, as well as her openness about allegations that David cheated on her with his assistant Rebecca Loos while playing for Real Madrid.
'It felt like the world was against us,' Victoria said in an emotional, if brief, part of the documentary. 'And here's the thing — we were against each other if I'm being completely honest.'
But one thing we apparently won't see in Victoria Beckham is her heartbreak over deep cracks in her relationship with her oldest son, Brooklyn — and he and wife Nicola will certainly not join her at the premiere of her doco next month.
Neither she, David nor Brooklyn's siblings — Romeo, 22; Cruz, 20; and Harper, 14 — have spoken to Brooklyn for months following a fallout that started in the run-up to his and Peltz's wedding in April 2022, Page Six is told.
Friends told us that it's even more upsetting for Victoria and David because they faced pushback from their own families when they first got together in 1997 and pledged they would always be there for their kids.
In the Beckham, doc, David's mum, Sandra, admits, 'We'd worried he would lose everything he worked for because football had always come first and then all of a sudden it wasn't.'
'David's parents didn't exactly love Victoria at first,' a friend told Page Six. 'So [David and Victoria] said, 'We'll make our own family.''
The familial breakdown was only further highlighted this week as Brooklyn and Peltz posted photos of their recent vow-renewal celebrations on Instagram. Peltz's father, billionaire Nelson Peltz presided over the ceremony with many of her relatives in attendance — and none of the Beckhams present.
A second friend said the family have not spoken to Brooklyn in months and don't expect him to join in any of the celebrations for the Victoria Beckham premiere or when David collects his upcoming knighthood from King Charles.
'It's not just David and Victoria Brooklyn isn't speaking to — it's his grandparents and siblings and people he's grown up with his entire life,' the friend said.
For all of them, but especially for Victoria as a mother, the second friend said, 'It's heartbreaking.'