Dutch former glamour model Rebecca Loos was personal assistant to footballing legend David Beckham for a few months in 2003, during which time, she later claimed, they conducted a brief affair.
The story scandalised early noughties Britain. The tabloids had a feeding frenzy, said former Mirror editor Roy Greenslade at the time. He tied the papers’ obsession with the Beckhams to the passing of Princess Diana.
“With the death of Diana they [the tabloids] have elevated the Beckhams into her slot,” he told the BBC. “In the way that they can ramp up their sales. They have elevated them, and the Beckhams have elevated themselves, to a dizzying height of fame.”
David was married to wife Victoria at the time, and moved to Real Madrid with 26-year-old Rebecca as a personal assistant. He and Victoria Beckham (née Adams) tied the knot in 1999 at a ceremony that reportedly cost an eye-watering amount.
Rebecca Loos’ upcoming appearance on Channel 4’s gruelling reality TV series Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins has led to ample opportunities for grilling. So here’s what she has said about the whole (alleged) debacle…
What claims did Rebecca make back in 2004 about her ‘affair’ with David Beckham?
First, a bit of history. Or, alleged history.
David Beckham transferred to Real Madrid in July 2003. It was a career-defining transfer, and gave him a shot at footballing fame and glory in Spain. He had been at Manchester United.
With the move came a new entourage. This included 26-year-old personal assistant Rebecca Loos.
Her job was to help the Beckhams – plural, since David had married Victoria four years earlier, and they had two children together by this point – settle into Spanish life.
Two months later, photographs emerged of them, as in David and Rebecca, leaving a Madrid nightclub together. Whispers circulated, but nothing came of it. Until…
In April 2004, Rebecca sold her story in an exclusive interview with News of the World.
She cut a deal with the paper worth a staggering amount
Rebecca Loos sold her story to the paper for £300,000, according to the BBC.
She later told Sky TV’s Kay Burley in a televised interview that she and David Beckham “just really hit it off”.
“We just connected. People noticed it,” she said, per the Mail. “The chemistry between David and I was so strong and people were not happy because I was being very unprofessional and he’s a married man.
“He is very generous lover. He gives a lot. He pleases. He knows what you want. It’s all about you and not so much about him. It’s nice,” she claimed.
Rebecca Loos’ life became ‘hell’ after ‘affair’ while Beckham’s ‘blossomed’
The former PA and glamour model’s time on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins has led to quite a lot of chatter about her claims of an affair.
Rebecca will be seen facing a grilling in the show’s Mirror Room, during which Jason Fox and Chris Oliver asked her why she had chosen to come on the show, and how she felt about the scandal now, two decades later.
“It felt unjust that my life was pretty hell and his life kept going and kept blossoming. I’ve been accused of being a liar. I’ve had a lifetime of opinions around me, I’ve definitely developed thick skin,” she said, per the Mirror.
“I think the public opinion now has softened, at least from what I’m gathering since the documentary came out with the Beckhams a couple of years ago. I think it is now because thanks to social media, there is a whole different following out there, which it’s a double-edged sword.”
One of her sons told her ‘at least it wasn’t Messi’
Rebecca Loos said in a 2023 interview that she is very open about how the chaos of 2003-2004 changed her life. She’s spoke to her Norwegian doctor Sven Christjar Skaiaa about it. And their sons – Magnus, 14, and Liam, 11.
“They know [about the alleged affair], one paper quotes her as saying. “And so I said: ‘I want to say something. And I’m going to do an interview, so there might be some media and how do you feel about that?’
“And so my youngest son said: ‘Oh, good.’ He’s a bit like me. He’s like: ‘Good for you, Mummy.’ And my eldest son, he said: ‘Well, I don’t really know anything about Beckham. It’s not like it’s Messi, Mummy. I mean, had it been Messi…'”
Trust issues
The mum-of-two told Closer that she wasn’t worried about putting herself back in the spotlight during her stint on Celebrity SAS.
“There are people who like you, people who don’t like you. I’m not bothered by the people who don’t like me. It used to get to me when I was younger, but now I know you can’t please everyone. I’m a little bit burnt by what I’ve been through, so I have a big issue trusting. Celeb SAS was a great show for me to come back on because it’s quite serious.
“And the production company have been absolutely fantastic – what they’ve said the show is going to be and what they said they’re going to do, they’ve done. There’s been no backstabbing, no clever things to try to make headlines, no game playing. It’s been very honest and very open,” she said.
Victoria Beckham reportedly wants a ‘face-to-face’ with Rebecca Loos
Heat World ran a story earlier this year claiming that Victoria Beckham is at her “wits’ end” about what to do.
The story has not gone away in the way she hoped it would, apparently.
In an interview with 60 Minutes back in the spring, Rebecca maintained that she has “stuck to the truth”.
“I’ve never exaggerated,” she insisted. “I never lied about a single thing. Why? Because I’m going up against the strongest, most powerful couple in the media, who have all the money in the world for the best PR, the best lawyers. And all I had on my side was the truth.”
The Beckhams have a combined net worth of around £500 million.
Every time Rebecca speaks, it’s a “dagger through Victoria’s heart”, a source reportedly told the magazine.
The unnamed source claims that Victoria wants to have a “face-to-face showdown” with Rebecca. David, meanwhile, is not so keen on the idea.
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Rebecca Loos has embraced life in Norway as a yoga teacher
Two decades after scandalising Britain with headlines about an alleged affair with one of the most famous footballers of all time, Rebecca Loos now lives in Norway.
In 2008, she met her future husband Sven Christjar Skaiaa on the set of 71 Graden Noord, a Dutch reality TV series. She moved to Norway to live with him in 2009.
Rebecca became a certified medical assistant in 2011, and completed her first yoga teacher training in 2017. Around the same time, she opened a studio in the mountain village of Hemsedal.
Her media appearances have been relatively scant over the last few years, although this year has marked a change of pace.
Her husband Sven worked as a medic with the Royal Norwegian Air Force, and spent some time with the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. He is now a search and rescue specialist.
David and Victoria’s response
David Beckham has consistently denied any allegations of an affair with Rebecca Loos, calling them “ludicrous”. He shared a statement at the time, saying: “During the past few months I have become accustomed to reading more and more ludicrous stories about my private life. What appeared this morning is just one further example. The simple truth is that I am very happily married and have a wonderful wife and two very special kids. There is nothing any third party can do to change this.”
In their Netflix documentary, Victoria, meanwhile, described it as the “most unhappy” period of her life. She said: “It was the hardest period for us. Because it felt like the world was against us.”
David added: “Victoria is everything to me, 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.”
While the Beckhams have never taken legal action against Loos, they did settle a defamation claim against News of the World.
Catch Rebecca and the other recruits on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins on Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday.
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