There’s Victoria Beckham’s biography on the verge of coming out, and this versatile lady’s variegated life is sure to delight her fans with reams of details, some of them virtually unknown to the public. Are they on the scandalous or endearing side? What is hidden beneath Posh’s poshness? Well, you are welcome to take a peek now.
1. There Was a Prior Engagement
Nowadays Victoria seems practically inextricable with David Beckham, but there was a time when her affection was engaged elsewhere – and engaged in the literal sense. There was a chap by name Mark Wood who didn’t seem to be especially caring (and at times he did mistreat her), but she was fond of him notwithstanding. The other group members didn’t think much of him. Wood moved over to Victoria’s parents while she was working with the group. He didn’t show any inclination to value the relationship and went so far as to prevent her fulfill her commitment to the group when they were preparing Wannabe. Upon that Victoria broke off the engagement and never regretted it.
2. Inspired by Fame
It all began when Victoria and her younger sister were taken to see Fame by their mother. It was 1982, she was 8, but the movie ignited her in spite of the age. All of a sudden she realized what she wanted to be – dancing, singing, looking “fantastic, with wild frizzy hair” and abandoning herself in performing like Coco.
3. Acne Sufferer
Throughout her life Victoria had her “spots,” or acne, to give it its proper name. Yes, even now. In childhood it used to bring her down and make her quiet and remote. At school she tried to hide it under a thick layer of makeup, only to be forced to remove it every day. Louise, her younger sister, boasted an unmarred skin, thus giving Victoria an inferiority complex.
4. She Worked Hard for Her Breakthrough
As soon as Victoria emerged from her dance school (Laine’s, a fairly prestigious place), she longed for a gig. While many of her classmates were tempted to take jobs at cruise ships where they could enjoy themselves when not singing and dancing with their expenses paid, Victoria decided she was cut out for bigger things. There was an audition for a musical about Vesta Tilley entitled Bertie, and she applied for it even if she didn’t have enough voice for a lead. Still, she managed to impress the director into giving her the role.
5. Spice Girls Was Her Second Band
Her first commitment was with a band dubbed Persuasion which comprised three girls and two boys and did disco-like numbers in pubs. It was so long ago that Victoria cannot remember any song from those days except one called Be the One. In 1994 her Persuasion time ran out when she spotted an ad for a girl band for girls from 18 to 23. She decided that she was all the ad required – “streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, dedicated” – and went to Dance Works for the audition that changed her life forever.
6. She Did Nine-to-Five
Victoria’s pre-Spice Girls days were filled with regular work the kind we all do. The most important side jobs she still recalls were a promo model for The Daily Mirror – she gave out T-shirts and pens clad tightly in a T-shirt, black pants and boots (the reason she referred to it as “bimbo work”). Sometimes she took her sister along.
Another time she worked as a perfume seller in a department store. It involved maintaining the same position for hours, and Victoria is still empathic to women who offer perfume samples because of that.
7. Weight is a Problem
When Victoria turned 15 she suddenly started to gain weight fast for no apparent reason. Her mother mistook it for puppy fat, but she was wrong – it turned out later that it had been due to poly-cystic ovaries, a condition that has hormonal ramifications. It was a source of ongoing worry for her until she became a member of Spice Girls. Then Geri induced her to resort to eating vegetables and running. That helped her drop weight but she got so sensitive about it that it put her off her food.
8. Humor is no Problem
We came to think of Victoria Beckham as of no-nonsense business lady, but if you said that to those who know her closely they would tell you you are far out! David is always giving out that his wife can make him laugh like nobody else! That’s what Victoria is – having everything that makes her a true-blue celebrity.
