Lady Beckham achieved dizzying fame in the Spice Girls, so it’s hard to believe that at school, she was “that uncool kid” who didn’t fit in.
“I was definitely a loner at school”, she says, explaining she was bullied.
The Spice Girls came together in 1994, after Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Victoria responded to an advert for candidates.
After the release of their chart-topping debut single Wannabe in 1996, “Spice mania” swept the planet, with their self-styled “Girl Power” mantra – a brand of female empowerment that made them a global pop culture phenomenon.
Lady Beckham credits her bandmates for making her “more lighthearted, more fun” and says it was the first time she felt popular.
She still had to face negative headlines about her weight, and discusses having an eating disorder. She says she never talked about it publicly, or even very much with her parents, but that it made her become “very good at lying”.
But Lady Beckham says the other Spice Girls made her “feel good enough” about being herself. It’s a message she continues to instil in her daughter Harper, 14.
“I tell Harper every day, be who you are,” she says.