Victoria Beckham has never shied away from a camera — whether as a pop star, fashion designer, or supportive wife to one of the most famous footballers in the world. But in the opening episode of her new documentary, Victoria makes it clear that this story is about her — the good in her successes and the bad in her struggles, from battling an eating disorder to building a fashion house.
Although she insists the documentary isn’t about her recently knighted husband, it’s evident early on that Victoria Beckham is heavily inspired by Sir David Beckham’s own documentary. Still, Victoria focuses on her life before she met him. Her eating disorder and relentless work ethic, she reveals, were both triggered by the same childhood experience.
Victoria admits that her singing and performing talents were skills she had to nurture rather than natural gifts. Yet it was her school’s obsession with body image that pushed her to the back during a school performance — a humiliation that might have crushed her had her father not insisted she stay and “fight” for her spot at the front. According to David, that lesson built the grit and determination she still relies on today.
As she grew older, the fixation with her body only intensified. The tabloids constantly dissected her appearance, tossing around headlines like “Skinny Posh” or “Porky Posh” when she was barely in her twenties. That public scrutiny pushed her toward an eating disorder. In the documentary, Victoria recalls, “I could control my weight, and I was controlling it in an incredibly unhealthy way. When you have an eating disorder, you become very good at lying.” She says the feeling of never being good enough lingered for years, long after her pop-star days ended.
Her next chapter was fashion — a natural evolution for someone always regarded as a style icon. When the family moved to the U.S. after David joined LA Galaxy, Victoria decided to pursue her long-held dream of becoming a designer. “Victoria was one that totally proved us wrong,” Anna Wintour says in the film. “It was clear that there was vision there, there was a point of view for people to recognize what she stands for.”
Still, seven years into her fashion career, her label was reportedly millions of dollars in the red. In the documentary, Victoria recalls this period, saying, “I almost lost everything.” Though David eventually stepped in to help financially, Victoria chose not to invite him to her first showcase, fearing he would distract from her work. Fashion, she learned, is a cutthroat business — perhaps even more so than pop music.
It’s no wonder that her long-rumored feud with her daughter-in-law reportedly stems from her feeling slighted over not designing the wedding dress. Interestingly, Victoria’s son Brooklyn Beckham does not appear in the documentary. She barely mentions him, and he only comes up in passing when she recalls her morning sickness while pregnant with him.
Victoria does, however, share a lighter moment when she mentions being happy that the Gallagher brothers from Oasis eventually made up during a promotional interview — adding that she’s particularly happy for their mother. Still, rumors persist that Brooklyn’s distance from the family may have less to do with his wife and more with an apparent feud between him and one of his brothers.
Victoria Beckham is now streaming on Netflix.
