Rebecca Loos was catapulted to fame in 2004 when she claimed she had an affair with David Beckham and sold her story to the press.
In a new Netflix documentary, Victoria Beckham has spoken for the first time about her husband’s alleged infidelity, saying that time was “the most unhappy I have ever been”.
The Beckhams have always denied the affair claims – but in the documentary, Victoria describes the aftermath of the allegations as the “hardest period” of their marriage.
Here, Sky News looks at what happened to Loos in the wake of the affair claims – and where she is now.
The claims
Rebecca Loos was David Beckham’s personal assistant
Loos alleged she had an affair with Beckham in 2003 while he was playing for Real Madrid and she was his personal assistant.
She sold her story to the News Of The World, in what PR expert Mark Borkowski called “one of the last great kiss and tell stories”.
“Back in those days, you’d get millions of eyeballs on the Sunday papers, and these headline splashes were real water-cooler moments,” he told the Evening Standard.
David and Victoria Beckham in 2003
In her first TV interview after the story broke, Loos told Sky News’ Kay Burley about a group dinner where she and the football star hit it off.
“The chemistry between David and I was so strong that everyone was aware and people weren’t happy, obviously, because I was being very unprofessional and he’s a married man,” she said.
“He just kept looking at me and then it dawned on me what he’d asked me – and I did want to go back with him.”
On one occasion when she alleged they slept together she said she felt “used”, but said she went back to him because “there were still feelings there”.
“I adore him,” she said.
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David Beckham speaks to Sky News
What happened to Loos afterwards?
In the aftermath of the News Of The World article, Loos told Kay Burley she was called names and branded a liar.
She said she had spoken out because she shouldn’t be “ashamed”, adding: “This is the truth.”
Her newfound fame soon saw her on the covers of magazines and starring in reality TV programmes.
Rebecca Loos appearing on MTV’s TRL in November 2004
She controversially appeared on Channel 5 show The Farm, where her part in the breeding process of pigs prompted a slew of complaints.
She joined Celebrity Love Island in 2005 and later appeared on X Factor: Battle Of The Stars, the Spanish version of Survivor and Cirque de Celebrite.
Rebecca Loos at a film premiere in London in 2006
Where is Loos now?
Loos now lives in Norway, having met her Norwegian husband, a doctor named Sven Christjar Skaiaa, on the reality show 71 Degrees North.
They have two sons together. According to Loos’ Instagram profile, she is now a yoga and meditation teacher as well as a part-time medical assistant.
What have the Beckhams said?
Opening up about the time of the allegations in the Netflix documentary Beckham, Victoria said it was a “nightmare”.
“It was the hardest period because it felt like the world was against us,” she said.
“Here’s the thing – we were against each other if I’m being completely honest.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was and how it affected me. It was a nightmare.
“It was an absolute circus – and everyone loves it when the circus comes to town, right? Unless you’re in it.”
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Victoria Beckham: ‘I was bullied a lot’
When asked if she “resented” her husband, she replied: “If I’m being totally honest, yes I did. It was the most unhappy I have ever been in my entire life.”
David also addressed the allegations, saying: “There were some horrible stories which were difficult to deal with.
“It was the first time that me and Victoria had been put under that kind of pressure in our marriage.”
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When asked how the couple survived that period, David became emotional, saying: “I don’t know.
“I don’t know how we got through it in all honesty.
“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 and what we had was worth fighting for. But ultimately it’s our private life.
“There were some days I would wake up and I would think how am I going to go to work, how am I going to walk on to that training pitch, how am I going to look as if nothing is wrong… I felt physically sick every day when I opened my eyes.
“How am I going to do this?”
