Victoria Beckham's TV Weight Shame: A Lingering Health Impact
Victoria Beckham recently shared the profound impact of being weighed on live television in 1999, an incident she described as deeply "hurtful." This public scrutiny occurred on Chris Evans' Channel 4 show TFI, just months after she had given birth to her first child, Brooklyn, with husband David Beckham. During the segment, Evans directly questioned her weight, asking if it was "back to normal," and then proceeded to ask her to step on scales, remarking, "Eight stone's not bad at all, is it?" Although this uncomfortable moment is not included in her new Netflix documentary, it has resurfaced online, prompting both Victoria and David to address its unacceptability.
Reflecting on the incident, David Beckham highlighted the societal climate of the time, stating, "People felt it was okay to criticise a woman for her weight, for what she's doing, for what she's wearing. You know, there were a lot of things happening in TV then, that won't happen now, that can't happen now." Victoria herself recounted the experience, saying, "I was weighed on national television when Brooklyn was six months old. Get on those scales on television. Have you lost the weight? You know, and we laugh about it and we joke about it, when we're on television. But I was really, really young, and that hurts."
The couple also reflected on how the relentless comments and criticism about Victoria's appearance and weight throughout the Nineties and early 2000s left a lasting mark. David observed a change in his wife, noting that the criticism affected her natural disposition, while Victoria admitted, "I really started to doubt myself and not like myself. Because I let it affect me. I didn't know what I saw when I looked in the mirror. Was I fat was I thin, I don't know. You lose all sense of reality. I was just very critical of myself. I didn't like what I saw." She recalled being labeled "Porky posh to skinny posh," finding it incredibly difficult to cope with the constant public judgment.
Victoria further revealed that her struggle with body image led her to an eating disorder. Feeling a lack of control over media narratives and photographs, she sought control over her appearance, explaining, "I could control it with the clothing. I could control my weight, and I was controlling it in an incredibly unhealthy way." She confessed to never being honest with her parents or publicly discussing her eating disorder, highlighting that constant messaging of "you're not good enough" deeply affects a person, a sentiment that has remained with her throughout her life.
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