David Beckham has revealed he was forced to cut short his honeymoon with wife Victoria shortly after Sir Alex Ferguson called him back to training.
The 48-year-old footballer tied the knot with 49-year-old Victoria at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland on July 4, 1999, after which the couple flew to the south of France.
Speaking about the trip in his documentary BECKHAM, David explained: “We had a short honeymoon. “We ended up at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s house in the south of France – I have no idea how we ended up there!”
In never-before-seen snaps from the trip, the couple looked more in love than ever: the couple kissed in the sea and snuggled up together in swimwear.
But they returned to reality with a bang when David explained: “We were supposed to stay there for ten days, but the manager called me for about five days and said, ‘I need you back in training.'”
Fun in the sun: David Beckham has revealed he was forced to cut short his honeymoon with wife Victoria shortly after Sir Alex Ferguson brought him back to training
Adorable: The couple looked more in love than ever in the sweet snaps from the trip. The couple kissed in the sea and snuggled up together in swimwear
David and Sir Alex had a notoriously fractious relationship and Gary Neville confirmed: “Calling David five days after his wedding is classic Sir Alex Ferguson.” “Come back, you complete idiot.”
“Sir Alex Ferguson had an uncanny habit of bringing you back down to earth.”
In the docuseries, the Manchester United legends revealed that David and Victoria Beckham’s relationship “upset” Sir Alex.
Because Posh and Becks were both high-profile celebrities before their relationship, they attracted a high level of publicity and media attention, which angered Ferguson in the early stages of their relationship.
The manager believed David’s relationship with Victoria had “changed” him as a footballer, as he became more focused on his celebrity status than his performances on the pitch for Manchester United.
Former teammate Paul Scholes said: “His relationship with Victoria upset the manager. “He thought it was affecting his football.”
Meanwhile, fellow Red Devils icon Paul Ince revealed that Sir Alex regularly checked on his players’ love lives to ensure they were in “stable” relationships.
“Sir Alex wanted you to be stable. He looked into your background. “I didn’t want you partying outside every night,” he said.
When asked about their relationship, Sir Alex admitted: “He’s changed, there’s no doubt about that – and all the media and celebrity attention was different to what I wanted.”
Cute couple: The 48-year-old footballer tied the knot with 49-year-old Victoria at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland on July 4, 1999, after which the couple flew to the south of France
David revealed: “We had a short honeymoon. We ended up at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s house in the south of France – I have no idea how we ended up there!’
Baby-faced: The couple shared adorable pictures from their romantic getaway and gave fans a glimpse into their honeymoon
Oh dear: Sir Alex Ferguson (left) forced David to fly home after five days, and Gary Neville remarked: “Sir Alex had an uncanny habit of bringing you back down to earth.”
Unexpected: The couple lived in the house of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber
Elsewhere in the documentary, David’s friends and family recalled how shocked they were at the extreme lengths the Manchester United player went to to spend time with Victoria when they first started dating.
The couple’s intense and conflicting schedule – David at football training in Manchester and Victoria on a world tour with the Spice Girls – meant they rarely had free time together.
But David didn’t let that stop him from doing everything he could to meet during their first relationship in 1997, and the athlete confessed: “I didn’t care when I saw her, how many times I saw her. “
“If I drove seven minutes to London to see her, then I’ve done it!”
He added: “I loved everything about Victoria. “I didn’t know she was the strong woman that she is and I like that. I don’t know if it was because I wanted her to take care of me… She’s a strong, strong woman. She can be a pain in the ass though!’
Victoria was blown away by his grand gestures, recalling: “I was on tour, but not knowing when I was going to see him was the hardest thing.”
“He would do anything to spend time with me. Sometimes he would charter a small plane, like a two-seater plane, he would literally come over for a few hours and then fly back.”
But while the couple only had eyes for each other, those on the outside were worried about the impact this would have on the footballer and his career.
Manchester United teammate Gary, 48, explained: “He wanted to see Victoria for so long, it was a lot. “He was like an addict! He would drive four hours to spend 20 minutes with her.
“He was on the phone with Victoria every second and stayed on the phone until 1am.”
David’s mother Sandra, 74, was also concerned and revealed she had been intercepting calls between the pair to prevent David from becoming distracted.
She recalled: “Victoria was away and we were staying at David’s and the phone rang at three in the morning.”
“He was having a game, so I got on the phone and said, ‘He’s in bed sleeping,’ and they wanted to talk.” But being a caring mother, I thought, “You shouldn’t be at this time in the morning ring.”
“But how can you tell them? They are adults. “I was afraid he would lose everything he worked for because football came first, and suddenly that wasn’t the case.”
The celebrity couple, who met in 1997 after Posh Spice attended one of his Manchester United games with Mel C, got engaged a year later and married in 1999.
Their wedding was a fanfare, with OK! The magazine paid £1 million for the photo rights.
David shared snippets from his big day on the docuseries, laughing at his decision to have their guests wear black and white clothing while he and Victoria wore bright purple ensembles.
As Gary described the wedding as “a spectacle”, David mused: “I’m trying to think back to the time I decided to wear a purple suit and I don’t know when that happened…”
“I think I just followed Victoria’s example, but what were we thinking?!”
Victoria had no regrets, quipping: “It was fun!” “We weren’t worried about what people would say.”
Wedding day: The celebrity couple met in 1997, got engaged a year later and married in 1999. Their wedding caused quite a stir, with OK! The magazine paid £1 million for the photo rights
Bold look: David shared snippets from his big day on the docuseries, laughing at his decision to have their guests wear black and white clothing while he and Victoria wore bright purple ensembles
Most recently David and Victoria Beckham
She continued, “I mean, my God, how nice to be like that when you just don’t care, you just want to express yourself,” but she confessed, “I don’t know where the thrones came from,” while saying the gold-related chairs on which she and David posed.
Fans also got a glimpse of his best man Gary’s very rude wedding speech in which he referenced the Spice Girls’ sex lives.
He joked: “David said the Spice Girls had asked the Bayern Munich team to be present today and David was confused by this request and asked why.”
“The Spice Girls replied that they would like to meet any man who could stay on top for 90 minutes and still come second!”