Victoria Beckham admitted to suffering from an eating disorder in her new Netflix documentary which was released this week.
And fellow WAG Lizzie Cundy, 57, has revealed she broke down in tears watching her speak about her experiences, because she’s gone through similar torment.
Just this week, Victoria’s stint on Michael Parkinson’s 2000 show resurfaced, showing the moment he asked her if she was anorexic and Lizzie said she saw a ‘terror in Victoria’s eyes’ as she dealt with the question, which she can relate to.
Parkinson pried: ‘As far as you’re concerned, this thing in the press about you being an anorexic, now are you anorexic?’
She immediately replied: ‘No I’m not!’ to which he hits back: ‘How do you know?’
Victoria responded: ‘I know that because I eat, anorexics don’t eat! I have a perfectly healthy diet. And what upset me the most when all of that was in the press was that I know I’m fine, my family know I’m fine…
‘I saw Victoria Beckham’s look of terror when Michael Parkinson quizzed her on her anorexia on TV during toxic 2000s WAG years, (pictured on the show) and I broke down in tears because I endured the same thing’ reveals LIZZIE CUNDY
Lizzie, who has battled an eating disorder says she was also asked about her eating habits during filning for Our Shirley Valentine Summer for ITV in 2018 (pictured in 2007)
Lizzie, (second from right) pictured during filming for Our Shirley Valentine
‘But there are lots of young children out there who look up to the Spice Girls and think goodness you know are you meant to be thin you know I mean I look at the way I look now and I used to be a lot bigger and I lost a lot of weight after having Brooklyn but this is just the way that I look now… but it did worry me…’
While Victoria, now 51, found love with David Beckham, Lizzie was previously married to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur footballer Jason Cundy from 1994 until 2012, with her looks constantly under scrutiny.
Victoria admitted on her Netflix series hat she ‘didn’t like’ what she saw when she looked in the mirror so began to control her weight in what she describes as an ‘incredibly unhealthy way.’
And Lizzie suffered the same inner turmoil, with her eating habits also addressed on a TV show.
The late Annabel Giles questioned why she wasn’t eating as they filmed Our Shirley Valentine Summer for ITV in 2018.
Lizzie said: ‘I remember Annabel pulled me at the table and said why aren’t you eating? And the cameras were rolling, and that should be just a normal question to someone else because I think I’m not that hungry.
‘But for me, I felt my eyes getting really teary and I was really defensive, and the girls were like, “come on, you haven’t eaten much today”.
‘I remember just thinking “God, back off”, which isn’t like me but I felt like a rat trapped with everyone asking questions, and I know they were filming and looking at me thinking, “why is she getting upset?”
‘It’s that that can just sort of trigger you, because you feel “oh my God, everyone’s watching”. Everyone’s looking if I’m eating or not, and I’m in a panic mode.
‘And I had that look that Victoria had, that terror.’
This is the moment Victoria Beckham was humiliatingly made to stand on scales by Chris Evans and weighed in front of a studio audience on live TV just after giving birth to her first child
Lizzie said she was once shamed in a similar way and said: ‘When I was at convent school, the nuns would say “get on the scales cause you’re too heavy”‘ (Lizzie pictured aged 14)
Victoria, 51, revealed for the very first time in her Netflix documentary that she has battled the illness for most of her life
Victoria was told she had to stand at the back of her dance class because she was considered overweight
Victoria also famously endured being weighed live on Chris Evans’ 90s TFI Fridays show, in which he asked her to step on scales shortly after she gave birth to her son Brooklyn.
Lizzie said she went through the same thing when her teachers forced her to get on the scales in front of her classmates at school.
She said: ‘When I was at a convent school, the nuns would say “get on the scales cause you’re too heavy”. I was too skinny, and I just thought, how can I be heavier, and it’s in front of everyone too.
‘I’ll never forget that, being weighed in front of my class because I knew I was underweight.
‘That terror, that is the word. I saw that terror in Victoria’s eyes with Parkinson and I literally was watching it with tears down my face because I thought it actually was quite cruel.
‘It was just the worst experience, and the terror doesn’t leave me, that feeling, and I’m sure Victoria would say the same with that Parkinson interview, which you can’t believe happened now.’
While both women share obvious common ground, their heartbreaking experiences in childhood are strikingly familiar.
Victoria and Lizzie were shamed in their early teens for their appearances. For Victoria, this came from her teacher as her body confidence agony started.
She said: ‘I remember the principle of the theatre school saying to me, you know, at the end of the show we are going to just fly in. ‘You girls can be flown in’ meaning that we weren’t looking as aesthetically pleasing as some of the others, ‘so we’ll just fly you in the back.’
Victoria’s mother Jackie also added that the star was told ‘you’re overweight. You’ll be at the back.’
Watching those scenes brought memories flooding back for Lizzie, who was also sent to the back of the lineup.
Lizzie pictured with her ex-husband Jason Cundy in 2007, has said her eating became disordered once again after the breakdown
She said: ‘What really rang true with Victoria is when she said she was put to the back, when her mum was talking about her dancing as a kid and, that moment.
‘I remember when I was modelling, and those were the days where I used to pretend I was older, when I was only 14.
‘I was pretending I was 16 to get this modelling job and there was an audition with lots of girls, and she put me to the back and she said “too much puppy fat” and I remember thinking, “puppy fat?” and it just stuck with me.
‘From the age of 14, I thought, oh my word, puppy fat. I had a really chubby round face but I was only 14. That stuck with me.’
For Lizzie, her eating disorder resulted in casting directors and modelling agencies turning her down for jobs as they pleaded for her to gain weight after she dropped to just seven stone.
‘I was not getting work, because they were saying you’re too thin and I lost a huge campaign because they said we can’t cast you.
‘When he [a casting director] saw me again, I remember the director saying ‘you’ve lost so much weight, we can’t, it’s too much, it’s not right. You have to put weight back on.
‘It was a kind of trigger and I was able to gain weight.
‘But sadly when my marriage split happened, I went into that horrible dark turmoil of not eating again, and I lost a lot.
‘I went down to seven stone, it was because I couldn’t control what was going on with my marriage.’
Control is the big player in the destructive cycle.
Victoria explained in her eye-opening series: ‘I really started to doubt myself and not like myself and 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. I have been everything from porky posh to skinny posh, I mean, it’s been a lot and that’s hard.
‘I had no control over what was being written about me or the pictures that were being taken and I suppose I wanted to control that. I could control it with the clothing, I could control my weight. I was controlling my weight in an incredibly unhealthy way.’
Lizzie reflected: ‘She couldn’t control certain parts of her life, the press and what was going on, but she could control the food, and that’s exactly what really hit me hard when she said that because that was what started my eating disorder.
‘It wasn’t actually the food. It was just being able to have that control, and it seemed like the food was the only thing I could control.
‘Everything else was not right, but I could control the food. It kind of never leaves you.’
Lizzie is thankful for Victoria finally sharing her battle with the world, which she says will help so many people.
‘Thank you, Victoria, for being so open and honest about this because,’ she gushed over the mum-of-four.
‘I’ve been there, I’ve got the t-shirt, and know how difficult it is to talk about it and to admit, and especially on camera.
‘I thought she was so brave, and I know that is going to help so many others.
‘With her just admitting it, you know, we may have thought it at times, and then sometimes I’ve looked at her and I thought, “gosh, she looks so thin”, but you know, I thought for her to actually admit that and put that into the documentary, is going to really help others.’
If you’ve been affected by this story, help and support is available from BEAT Eating Disorders by calling 0808 801 0677 or emailing help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
