Nancy Dell'Olio has revealed all about her past relationship with Victoria Beckham and her thoughts on the new generation of "quiet" England WAGs.
The Italian lawyer, 61, describes fashion designer Victoria, 48, as "a bit controlling" and claims David Beckham 's wife and other famous WAGs were "quite imitated" by her presence back in the day.
As the national team's wives and girlfriends hit the headlines in Germany during the infamous 2006 World Cup, Nancy was in a long-term relationship with the squad's Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.
The international football tournament saw the likes of Victoria, Ashley Cole's wife at the time Cheryl and Coleen Rooney attract a mass of attention in Baden-Baden, as they partied across the city inbetween cheering on their partners.
Looking back on her time with the women, Nancy tells Tatler : "They were all quite intimidated by my presence. It's one thing to be the wife of the footballer - I was with the manager. We spent one or two evenings together in the hotel, but I had a different sort of routine."
She goes on to claim she tried to avoid being pictured by paparazzi and photographers due to it not being something she enjoyed.
Despite distancing herself from the group, Nancy admits she spent a little bit of time with Victoria, due to the Spice Girl singer's husband David being the England captain at the time.
Discussing mum-of-four Posh, the former Celebrity Big Brother star says: "I spent a little bit more time with Victoria. She is a lovely, lovely person. Very quiet and reserved - smart and a bit controlling. She is a person who loves to have a good time."
The 2006 World Cup was Nancy's partner's last tournament in charge of the England squad, with the so-called 'Golden Generation' crashing out on penalties after their quarter-final with Portugal ended 0-0.
A lot of blame was placed on the women for the professional male footballers underperforming once again during a big tournament - something then-England boss Eriksson dismissed as a "stupid excuse" at the time.
Elsewhere in her new interview, Nancy recalls being dubbed "the First Lady of football" and jokes about the current crop of "quiet" WAGs.
"They are less glamorous because it's not me anymore around," the lawyer quips to the publication.
Earlier this year, former England captain David - who has been slammed for his current World Cup deal with Qatar - reflected on the WAG culture that dominated the 00s.
Speaking with his former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville, David said: "There was a lot of attention around the families but I always believed, as an England captain, having the kids around and wives or girlfriends wasn’t a bad thing.
"But looking back, that whole culture, there was a lot of attention, and whether people behaved themselves in the right manner - I don’t know.
"Even Victoria, she is the first to say when she looks back: 'What was I doing? What was I wearing? Why would I do that?' I think it went a bit too far.
"There was more spoken about the WAGs than the football. At that time, for the players, you want to focus on the tournament rather than anything else," he continued on The Overlap podcast back in June.
"I do think it went too far but I do believe having them there at the right time is a good thing."
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