02 October 2023 , 10:07
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Victoria Beckham has revealed that her husband, David Beckham, suffered from clinical depression following the backlash he received after being given a red card in the 1998 World Cup. This revelation is part of a new Netflix series titled Beckham, set to be released on Wednesday, which delves into the former football star's career with interviews from Victoria and David Beckham, among others.
In the second episode of the documentary series, Victoria, 49, and David, 48, discuss the abuse they endured in the late 1990s after David was sent off during a match against Argentina. Following the game, an effigy of David was hung outside a pub, and during Manchester United's first away game the next season, at West Ham, the team bus was bombarded with stones and pint glasses.
Reflecting on David's response to this, Victoria stated: "He was absolutely broken. He was in pieces." She added, "He was really depressed, absolutely clinically depressed." Expressing her anger towards those who targeted them, she said, "It pained me so much, I still want to kill these people."
England's David Beckham receives a red card during the 1998 World Cup (AP)
David was left clinically depressed after the ordeal (Getty Images)David also spoke about the abuse he received, saying: "I wish there was a pill you could take which could erase certain memories." He admitted, "I made a stupid mistake. It changed my life. (The questions when he came back) 'how do you feel about letting your country down?' and 'you are a disgrace'."
Reflecting on their move to America and expecting their first child, he said, "We were in America, just about to have our first baby, and I thought 'we will be fine, in a day or two people will have forgotten'."
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"I don't think I have ever talked about it, just because I can't. I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme. Wherever I went, I got abused every single day."
"To walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things they said, that is difficult."
"I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was a mess. I didn't know what to do. The boss (Alex Ferguson) called me. He said 'David, how are you doing?' I think I got quite emotional. He said 'how are you doing, son?'. I said 'not great boss'. He said 'OK, don't worry about it, son'."
"That was the only thing I could control, once I was on the pitch, then I felt safe. It brought a lot of attention that I would never wish on anyone, let alone my parents, and I can't forgive myself for that. That is the tough part of what happened, because I was the one that made the mistake."
"When I have gone through difficult moments, I was able to block it out, but inside it killed me. Any time I was kicked during that season, it was like the (opposition team) had got two goals. As horrible as it was to look up to Victoria in the stand, it was the one thing which spurred me on."
In the episode, Victoria Beckham candidly discussed the challenges of revisiting certain memories, stating: "I realise now why I found it so stressful doing these interviews with you (for Netflix) because I blocked a lot of it out, and I think David has as well, but now it is coming back to me imagine having a baby and having death threats? David had to play with all this going on."
The couple welcomed their first child, Brooklyn, in March 1999 and are also proud parents to Romeo, Cruz, and Harper.
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