BY JANE RIDLEYInternational soccer ace David Beckham bends his first ball with the L.A. Galaxy on Saturday, but the debut everyone is talking about is his wife's reality TV show, premiering tonight on NBC.
Called "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America," it chronicles the Spice Girl's search for a family home in Beverly Hills and the pair's high-profile reception in the U.S.
The fashionista has taken a hands-on approach to the PR campaign designed to endear "Posh and Becks" to the American public.
She'd no doubt prefer to keep at least some of them under wraps, but here are 20 things you DIDN'T know about Britain's most glamorous exports:
1. MINDING HER PEAS
Posh, who admits suffering from an eating disorder in her late teens and early 20s, blamed yo-yo dieter Ginger Spice, aka Geri Halliwell, for encouraging her to eat packets of frozen peas instead of proper meals.
2. EMINEM SHOCKER
The pair stormed out of an Eminem concert in Manchester, England, after the singer wielded a chainsaw, simulated gay sex with a 10-foot synthetic penis and sat in a mock electric chair. A friend said they were horrified that their kids would have to grow up in a world where Eminem was a star.
3. PENNY-PINCHING MAMAL
iz Taylor, one of Britain's top wedding planners, turned down the chance to organize the Beckham nuptials because Posh's mother insisted she ask vendors such as the florist and caterers for discounts and deals in return for publicity.
4. GET THEM TO THE CHAPEL
The Beckhams had their sons christened in a chapel built on the grounds of their home in England. It boasts a statue of a white angel above a grand arched entrance, echoing the angel tattooed on David's back, and is fronted by a $200,000 mock ruin, built to resemble the church in which the couple wed.
5. THONG THING TO SAY
Becks was mercilessly teased by his teammates after his wife appeared on TV and told a chat show host that he liked to wear her thongs.
6. NOW THAT'S A NEAT TRICK!
Neat freak Becks has a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder and insists everything has its proper place. His England teammates would torture him by taking his soccer kit and scattering his stuff around the locker room.
7. OUR FARE LADY
When a sanitation worker at London's Heathrow Airport stole three of her Louis Vuitton suitcases in 2000, Posh demanded free first-class flights for life from British Airways. The airline offered her $200,000 in compensation instead.
8. KING AND QUEEN FOR A DAYOK!
magazine paid $2 million for exclusive rights to photographs of the Beckhams' 1999 wedding at a Gothic-style castle in Ireland. At the Robin Hood-medieval-themed reception, the newlyweds surveyed their 300 guests from giant, purple-cushioned thrones.
9. BECKS BOOTS IT
In 1998, Becks was blamed for the English team's loss in a crucial World Cup soccer match. He was sent off after impetuously kicking an Argentine player. Outraged fans made an effigy of him wearing a sarong — his favorite beach attire — and performed a ritualistic hanging. He was devastated.
10. IT WAS INCONCEIVABLED
iagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome at the age of 20, Posh was amazed when she unexpectedly got pregnant with first son, Brooklyn. Doctors had told her there was no chance she could conceive without medical intervention.
11. SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES
Ahead of last year's World Cup soccer tournament in Germany, the Beckhams were forced to scrap plans for a flypast of Battle of Britain war planes during a glitzy fund-raiser at their English mansion amid complaints from veterans.
12. ON CRUZ CONTROL
Cruz, the couple's youngest son, now age 2, has been labeled a "Band Aid" baby because he was born after their marriage hit a crisis. Becks' former assistant, Rebecca Loos, revealed they had had an affair and sold her lurid "kiss and tell" story to a British newspaper. Becks dismissed the claims as "ludicrous" but did not deny them.
13. BOMBS AWAY!
Posh's second solo album, recorded with rap mogul Damon Dash, was never released because it was considered a potential commercial disaster. The star was quietly dropped by her record company before she announced a new business interest in fashion design.
14. THEY WERE GOING TO GRAB BROOKLYN
In 2002, the family lived in fear after learning of a foiled $10 million kidnap plot to snatch Victoria and Brooklyn, then age 4. The suspects were arrested, but the case was later dismissed.
15. MOOLAH! MOOLAH!
Music industry experts estimate Posh and each of the four other Spice Girls will earn $20 million from their world reunion tour — with a stop in NYC — scheduled for later this year. Not that Posh needs the Benjies, considering hubby's $250 million transfer to the L.A. Galaxy. According to last year's respected Sunday Times Rich List, Posh and Becks are jointly worth $174 million.
16. COPYCAT
Romantic Becks still keeps the scrap of card that Posh used to write down her telephone number when they first met after a soccer match in 1997. As soon as he got home, he copied the digits onto six other pieces of paper in case he lost the original.
17. POSH ALMIGHTYA
nativity scene at Madame Tussaud's in London that portrayed Posh and Becks as a waxwork Mary and Joseph and one of their sons as Jesus was hastily dismantled after Christian groups complained it was blasphemous.
18. OUT DAMNED SPOTS!
Posh was plagued by acne during her teenage years and never left the house without makeup. She bemoans the fact that, at 33 and able to afford the best skin care, she still suffers from spots.
19. SKINNY SPICE
Posh sought dieting tips from her friend Liz Hurley and lived on watercress soup to lose 28 pounds in just five weeks after the birth of Cruz. Last year, the mom of three ordered three pairs of designer jeans with a waist size of just 23 inches — a size normally worn by 7-year-old girls.
20. WATCH IT, GRAMPS!
Soccer hero Becks is best-known for his pinpoint accuracy and sweeping "Bend It Like Beckham" cross. Even at the age of 6, he was able to kick a ball hard enough to catch his poor grandfather square in the face, breaking his spectacles.
"Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" will be shown tonight at 8 on NBC.
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