Ex Spice Girl said social media has allowed people to see ‘the real person’
Victoria Beckham has explained why she spent years looking unimpressed in paparazzi pictures at the height of her fame in the 2000s.
The businesswoman gained global recognition for her music career as the aloof “Posh” member of the Spice Girls, and for her demure and high maintenance persona at the height of media obsession with her relationship with footballer David Beckham.
Victoria, now 50, was often pictured with sunglasses and a poker face, rarely smiling in pictures.
In a new interview with The Times, she explained why that wasn’t a true representation of her whole personality.
“I think that for so many years people had an impression of me because of what they were seeing in paparazzi pictures,” she said. “Quite often I didn’t look most impressed.”
She thanked social media for allowing others to see her lighter side. Last year, she went viral for saying her dad had a Rolls-Royce while reflecting on her working-class background, during an episode of Beckham on Netflix. She also appeared free-spirited as she recently led a rendition of her band’s hit classic “Stop” at her 50th birthday party.
“Now with social media people get to see the real person,” she continued. “It’s never that I went out to prove that I was any different. It’s just this is who I am.”
Earlier this year, the fashion designer explained why she refrained from smiling on the red carpet, saying that her expressions were often misconstrued.
“I looked at some pictures of myself recently and was really struck by how happy I looked,” she told The Sunday Times.
“In the past I’ve always looked at those red carpet pictures of me and seen a woman who looks nervous and insecure.”
She said her expressions as a woman were misconstrued by the media as she continued: “Everyone else saw a woman who looked grumpy and stern – I suppose that’s how I got the reputation of being such a miserable cow.”
Her husband David, however, says he knew he would “always” be with the singer from the moment he saw her in a music video.
“Gary Neville and I were in the hotel room and a Spice Girls video came on. I think it was ‘Say You’ll Be There’. I pointed at the screen and told him, ‘That’s the girl for me and I’m going to get her,’” he told The Sun.
Victoria is seen wearing a black PVC catsuit in the video, which marked the band’s first single to debut at number one on the UK singles chart, and assured their continued success.
David had not reached levels of international stardom yet, and wasn’t in the first team for England at that stage, with Victoria being more famous at the time.
