Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Jacob Stolworthy

Rebecca Loos criticises David Beckham documentary: ‘He is portraying himself as the victim’

Getty Images / Netflix

Rebecca Loos has shared her verdict on the David Beckham documentary, criticising the footballer in the process.

Loos found herself embroiled in a celebrity scandal in 2004 after claiming she’d had an affair with Beckham while she was his and wife Victoria’s personal assistant.

The former Dutch model became David’s PA when he transferred to Real Madrid in July 2003, but was sacked a few months later. She subsequently gave an interview to News of the World in April 2004, alleging that she and Beckham had conducted an affair for four months.

While the claims were never corroborated and were dismissed by David at the time as “ludicrous”, they are addressed in the Netflix documentary, in which he said “There were some horrible stories that were difficult to, erm, deal with. It was the first time that me and Victoria had been put under that kind of pressure in our marriage. I don’t know. I don’t know how we got through it, in all honesty.

He said of Victoria: “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.”

Loos has taken umbrage with Beckham’s “poor me” approach to the depiction of the tabloid scandal in the documentary, telling MailOnline: “He needs to take responsibility.”

She continued: “He can say whatever he likes of course, and I understand he has an image to preserve, but he is portraying himself as the victim and he’s making me look like a liar, like I’ve made up these stories. He is indirectly suggesting that I’m the one who has made Victoria suffer.”

Loos, who now lives in Norway and is happilly married with two children, described this as being “the worst bit” for her as she alleges “he’s the one that’s caused the suffering”.

She added: “That bothered me.... He could have simply said that this was a tough time and I don’t want to talk about it.

“If you don’t want to take responsibility for things because of your family and your children that’s absolutely fine. But he specifically made it look like… my fault, that he had nothing to do with this.”

David Beckham in four-part Netflix series ‘Beckham’
— (Netflix)

The four-part documentary series, titled Beckham, is available to stream on Netflix now.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.