Victoria Beckham recalls losing confidence after media criticized her post-baby body
Victoria Beckham has opened up about a time when she didnât feel so confident in the spotlight.
The former Spice Girls member, 50, recently spoke to Grazia about scrutiny from the media, and how it sometimes led her to feel insecure about her appearance. âIâve had so much said about me and Iâm sure that has robbed me of some experiences,â Beckham said in the interview published on May 28. âI never want to look like Iâm complaining, but there were times in the past that I havenât felt confident enough to sit on a beach and watch my children play.â
She recalled how a newspaper outlet ran a story about her post-partum body after the birth of her oldest son, Brooklyn Beckham, 25 years ago. âI 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,â the fashion designer said. âThose things can affect how you feel and conduct yourself in public. Now, if paparazzi want to take a picture and say something â too bad, it doesnât bother me in the same way.â
While the tabloid story made the now mother-of-four feel insecure at the time, these days sheâs learned how to brush off public criticism. âYou just become more accepting, donât you? This is how I look. Iâm going to make the best of it, work hard at it,â Beckham said.
She also noted that although sheâs âvery disciplinedâ in her day-to-day life, she does enjoy letting loose once in a while. âIâm not going to be one of these: âAh, there are too many calories in a glass of wine,â types. Whatever. Lifeâs too short. Letâs have a nice time,â she told the outlet.
In fact, one of the ways that the Victoria Beckham Beauty founder has shown fans some of these nice times is through her social media â where sheâs been known to post a thirst trap of her husband, David Beckham, or a tutorial on how to achieve her signature smokey eye look.
Speaking to Grazia, she explained that by showing her playful side on social media, sheâs able to challenge the long-held reputation that sheâs a âsteely-faced ice queenâ.
âFor so long, people had this opinion of me that I was this steely-faced ice queen because of the paparazzi pictures and the story that the media would paint,â Beckham said. âThrough social media, people now see that thatâs not me. I like to laugh at myself. Thereâs always humor in what we do. I think thatâs key.â
In April, the style icon looked back at some of her old paparazzi pictures and red carpet appearances in honour of her 50th birthday. While Beckham was told she looked âgrumpy and sternâ in the photos, she admitted that she actually felt ânervous and insecureâ at the time.
âI looked at some pictures of myself recently and was really struck by how happy I looked,â she said in an interview with The Sunday Times. âIn the past Iâve always looked at those red carpet pictures of me and seen a woman who looks nervous and insecure.â
As a result, her facial expressions were misconstrued by the media. âEveryone else saw a woman who looked grumpy and stern â I suppose thatâs how I got the reputation of being such a miserable cow,â she said.