David Beckham met Victoria Adams in the Manchester United Players Lounge on 15th March, 1997. The Spice Girl wrote her parents' phone number onto a boarding pass, passed it to the midfielder, and reportedly told him, “Mr. Beckham, if you don't ring me, I'm going to kick you in the bollocks.”

David had apparently admired ‘Posh’ in the Say You’ll Be There video, while Victoria had perused David’s photo in a Panini sticker album. From these humble beginnings they established themselves as football’s first ‘power couple’, as relevant to readers of the front pages as they were to the sports pages at the back.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why, in the initial days of their relationship, ‘Posh and Becks’ returned regularly to a branch of Harvester; consider how their joint star power eclipsed their fame as individuals; and how the couple effectively created the PR template for exploiting a ‘personal brand’... 

Further Reading:

• ‘David and Victoria Beckham’s Relationship Timeline’ (US Magazine, 2022): https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/david-and-victoria-beckhams-relationship-timeline/

• ‘Twenty years of the Beckhams: how they ushered in our era of personal branding’ (The Guardian, 2019): https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/apr/18/20-years-david-victoria-beckham-personal-branding

• ‘Victoria & David Beckham Announce Engagement (Press Conference)’ (Associated Press, 1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKAFi7TP8vc

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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