In addition to a world class soccer player, David Beckham, it turns out, is also a highly-skilled party planner and fantastic Instagram husband. Variety reveals that a recent interview with Beckham was “done later than planned since David was busy coordinating Victoria’s 50th birthday,” referring, of course, to Victoria Beckham, his wife of 25 years. She turned 50 back in April, and at her party, performed alongside the other four members of the Spice Girls, the group that skyrocketed her to fame in the 1990s. Beckham shared a video on Instagram of the five women performing together, “and it blew up,” Variety writes.
“In all honesty, I think I was the most excited of anyone,” Beckham said of seeing the fivesome perform “Stop,” dance routine included. “The fact that, obviously, we had all of the girls in one room. All of the girls haven’t been on a stage together for over 15 years. So, to have them all there, to have them all up onstage, to have our youngest son playing guitar? The whole reason why the girls are actually up there was I didn’t want to do a traditional video of old clips and people saying, ‘Happy birthday, Victoria!’ My idea was to recreate the ‘Mama’ video, but I wanted it of just Victoria.”
Beckham’s Instagram video—as well as continued mysterious tidbits from Melanie Brown, aka Mel B, aka Scary Spice—only heightened fans’ desire to see the Spice Girls tour together again. (After disbanding in 2000, the last time all five performed together was for the London Olympics in 2012, Page Six reports; Victoria hasn’t taken the stage with the Spice Girls since, but the other members went on tour without her in 2019.)
Well, sorry friends, but Beckham is here to break your heart: though he called their performance back in April “an amazing moment,” Beckham said of any tour possibility that “Unfortunately, that’s not happening. Victoria was so pleased to see the girls, and it was a massive part of her life, the girls—but obviously, all the girls have got their own things going on. They will do certain things together at certain times. But Victoria’s full on with her beauty and fashion businesses. If anyone’s busier than me, it’s her.”
But, Beckham clarified, even though he shot down hope of a reunion tour (after all, the Spice Girls did turn 30 years old this year…), it’s not that he doesn’t want it to happen. “There’s nothing more that I’d like to see than the girls on stage again, so I’ll still work at it, don’t worry!” he said, in a moment of redemption post-heartbreak.
Of his wife, Beckham said of her portrayal in their Netflix documentary Beckham, released last October, “I think Victoria came out with this documentary and everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, that person that David’s been saying about for the last 27 years—that is her,’” he said of people getting to see the real Victoria, “not just about the non-smile and the pout.” He added, “That’s what I see every single day.”
Of their treatment in the media—which, at times, was brutal—“I think that my takeaway from my documentary was how important mental health is,” Beckham said. “Because, 20 years ago, nobody was talking about it. And nobody was taking it seriously. Now, it’s so great that people can actually talk about their feelings. There were many things said about us over the 27 years. It can be hurtful.”
He added that “I was never one of these people that was going to sit back and complain,” he said. “I was very fortunate to live the life that I did through my career. And I’m so thankful for that. I’m never going to moan about that because, at times, when I played a great game, it was splashed all over the news and all over the papers, and that’s really a good thing. But it wasn’t easy.”
Victoria was famous in her own right, as Posh Spice and one-fifth of arguably the most famous girl group of the mid-90s, but she was also one-half of “Posh and Becks,” a WAG (wife and girlfriend of an athlete) while Beckham was still deep in his professional playing career. Thinking of Taylor Swift as she navigates dating a professional athlete (her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs—but you knew that), Beckham told Variety “Hopefully that’s improved. It’s ridiculous that we’re even talking about it. I think back in the day with Victoria going to games, the fans were quite brutal. They sang songs about her. But I’m sure Taylor’s strong enough to handle whatever.”
Ultimately, Beckham said, doing the Netflix documentary was a net positive, as fans (and non-fans) got to see him and his family for who they really are, not just as media caricatures. (In addition to Cruz, the Beckhams share three other children: sons Brooklyn and Romeo and daughter Harper. They also have a daughter-in-law, Nicola.) Recently, he shared, he and Victoria were in a pub and came outside to see a note on the windshield of their car, with no name and no address. “It read, ‘We’re sorry how you were treated,’” Beckham said. “I’ve got the letter still. But that’s how people, I think, felt after the documentary.”
