Victoria Beckham Recalls How Tabloid Pinpointed Where She “Needed To Lose” Baby Weight

Victoria Beckham has been in the spotlight ever since she became Posh Spice, including the toxic era of the early 2000s when the media obsessed over a celebrity’s weight like it was a matter to be dealt with in the Situation Room. It’s a time Beckham remembers well, not only because she became a mom to her son Brooklyn in 1999, but also because of how horribly she was treated by paparazzi, tabloids, and media personalities shortly after she’d given birth.

Looking back on that time in her life today, Beckham said in a recent interview with Grazia that those moments affected her confidence. “I’ve had so much said about me and I’m sure that has robbed me of some experiences,” she told the magazine. “I never want to look like I’m complaining, but there were times in the past that I haven’t felt confident enough to sit on a beach and watch my children play. I remember after I had Brooklyn, my first outing was on the front page of the newspaper, with arrows pointing to where I needed to lose weight. Those things can affect how you feel and conduct yourself in public.”

Beckham, who shares sons Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 21, and Cruz, 19, as well as daughter Harper, 12, with husband David Beckham, has also previously addressed how she was forced to weigh herself on TV months after giving birth to her first child. In 1999, Beckham was a guest on a British Channel 4 show when host Chris Evans asked her several questions about her postpartum body and her workout routine.

“Is your weight back to normal?” Evans asked her, to which she responded to that yes, she was. “Can I check? Do you mind?” Evans then said as he guided Beckham, who was noticeably uncomfortable and said “this is horrible,” to step on a scale.

Speaking to Vogue Australia about the incident in 2022, Beckham said she could never imagine that happening today. “I went on a TV show called Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush with Chris Evans many years ago, and I’d just had Brooklyn and lost a lot of weight after. It happened to my mum after her pregnancies. It doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. And he made me stand on scales and be weighed. Can you imagine doing that nowadays?”

“I’ve had ‘Porky Posh’ on a headline, I’ve had ‘Skeletal Posh,”” she continued. “After I had Brooklyn, there was a picture on the front of a newspaper pointing to every single part of my body as to where I had to focus on losing the weight from. Imagine doing that now.”

While it’s shocking to think back on what was commonplace in the early 2000s, Beckham told Grazia in her most recent interview that she’s grown from those experiences. “Now, if paparazzi want to take a picture and say something — too bad, it doesn’t bother me in the same way.”