My eating disorder made me good at lying

“It’s not about him, it’s about me,” says Victoria Beckham (“he” is her husband Sir David Beckham).

And that's exactly what we'll see in a new three-part documentary premiering on Netflix on Thursday.

The former Spice Girl and fashion entrepreneur, 51, is determined to tell her own story – two years after former England captain Sir David, 50, was released. his own, hugely successful TV series.

In these episodes, Victoria is strikingly open about her eating disorder and how it has helped her become a “good liar.”

The series also takes us through Victoria's pop career, her family life, her attempts to reinvent herself and her preparations for her big show at Paris Fashion Week.

There are contributions from famous friends including Eva Longoria, and fashion titans like Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace.

Here are our main takeaways from her documentary.

Victoria achieved dizzying fame as a member of the Spice Girls, so it’s hard to believe that at school she was “that uncool kid” who didn’t fit in with the group.

“I was definitely a loner at school,” she says, explaining that she was bullied.

She says she first started being criticized about her appearance and weight at a young age.

And when she joined the Spice Girls in 1994, she regularly faced negative headlines about her weight.

“I was in control [the narrative] in an incredibly unhealthy way. When you have an eating disorder, you become very good at lying,” she said.

“And I was never very honest about it with my parents. I have never spoken about this publicly. It really affects you when you are constantly told that you are not good enough. And I guess that's been with me all my life.”

But Lady Beckham says her bandmates Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell made her “feel more carefree, more fun” and made her “feel good enough” about being herself.

It's a message she continues to instill in her 14-year-old daughter, Harper.

“Every day I tell Harper: be who you are,” she says.

After releasing their chart-topping debut single Wannabe in 1996, “Spice mania” swept the planet with its self-proclaimed “Girl Power” mantra – a brand of female empowerment that made them a global pop culture phenomenon.

But Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls in 1998 and the group broke up in 2001.

Lady Beckham says she has found the transition “very, very difficult”.

She continued to make music, but the criticism she received was “very hurtful.”

Then came the infamous WAG period. Photos of Victoria and other wives and girlfriends supporting their football partners in the German city of Baden-Baden in 2006 were scattered throughout the tabloids.

“It was fun,” Lady Beckham says of that period of her life.

But she now admits there was an “attention-seeking element” to it all. “I was trying to find myself, feeling inadequate, sad, perhaps frozen in time,” she says.

After the family moved to the United States, Lady Beckham decided that she wanted to work in fashion.

But to do this, she knew that she would have to give up her other identities – Spice Girl, WAG. “I buried these tits in Baden-Baden,” she says.

Lady Beckham is very honest about the challenges her fashion business has faced.

She says that people didn't think she was “cool” at all and that many refused to take her seriously.

And Vogue giant Dame Anna confirms this point when she says of Victoria's fashion aspirations: “I thought maybe it was a hobby. I didn’t quite believe it.”

We see the growth of Victoria Beckham Ltd, but also the significant financial challenges it faces. Sir David says he didn't think her business would survive, and Lady Beckham agrees.

“I almost lost everything and it was a very dark time,” she says. “I used to cry every day before going to work because I felt like a firefighter.”

She says her firm was “tens of millions in the red.”

In a later scene, her voice breaks and she cries as she remembers how Sir David intervened to help her business.

But the series also shows her turning things around, and we see her putting her best foot forward ahead of her triumphant spring/summer show at Paris Fashion Week in September 2024.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid stepped out for her in a stunning emerald green dress. Dame Anne is present and in an earlier clip she says Lady Beckham has “completely proven us wrong”.

Today, Victoria's business has offices in London and New York, with a main store in Mayfair, London. The brand's products are presented in 230 stores in 50 countries, according to the company's website.

The couple's eldest son, Brooklyn, 26, is mentioned several times in the series and makes brief appearances. Lady Beckham brings him up in conversation while discussing the morning sickness she experienced while pregnant with him and performing with the Spice Girls.

But in the past few months, much of the internet interest surrounding the Beckhams has focused on reports that Brooklyn and his wife Nicola had fallen out with the rest of the family.

The couple was absent from David Beckham's 50th birthday party and did not post a congratulations message online, fueling the intrigue.

Nikola previously denied there was any feud in the family. Sir David and Lady Beckham have never acknowledged rumors of a rift and refused to comment on the matter to BBC News.

We recently received a hint on this topic from Victoria. who told the Sunday Times how she felt Liam and Noel Gallagher's reconciliation must have made their mother “so happy”.

“As a mom, it must be…she must be so happy to see her boys doing well,” she said.

Showbiz reporter Katrina Rose notes that there was “no hint” of any supposed feud on the show.

“Victoria sets a lot of records right here, but she’s not drawn to this particular topic.”

Lady Beckham's pout became her defining image in the 1990s. But in the new series she admits there is a deeper reason why she never smiles.

“The minute I see the camera, I change,” she says.

“The barrier goes up, my armor is put on, and then, you know, the poor cow who doesn’t smile, that’s when she comes out. And I am so aware of it.”

She adds that she “would prefer not to be that person” and wishes she had the confidence to step in front of the cameras and smile.

Elsewhere she insists that she is indeed smiling.

“All these years I looked miserable because when we stood on the red carpet, this guy always walked to the left,” she says, pointing to Sir David.

“When I smile, I smile from the left, because if I smile from the right, I look unhealthy. That's why I smile on the inside, but no one sees it, that's why I look so gloomy.”

The program is filled with small details about the Beckhams' relationship, many of which we didn't know about before.

For example, Sir David turns on the blender when he doesn't want to listen to Victoria (or so she says).

The couple has fond memories of a whirlwind romance in the 1990s, which resulted in them getting married and having a child two years later.

Sir David recalls that his parents and his manager would have preferred him to marry a local girl who remained in Manchester, where he played for Manchester United. “But I didn’t want that,” he says, favoring globe-trotting celebrity Victoria.

“I was so excited and wanted everyone to know I was dating Posh Spice,” says the former England captain.

Lady Beckham, for her part, says she was never a young girl who dreamed of getting married or becoming a mother. “It wasn't until I met David that these things even occurred to me,” she says.

In the final episode, which was filmed ahead of Sir David's 50th birthday this year, the couple reflect on all they have achieved and what lies ahead.

“Success, it feels good, I’m not going to lie,” says Victoria. “I still have a lot of things I want to do.”

For his part, Sir David seems to have something else on his mind.

“Now we’re both, well, I’m almost 50, you’re 51, what’s next? Another baby?” David asks his wife.

Victoria laughs. “Another baby? My God. No”.

A three-part documentary series about Victoria Beckham is available on Netflix.