It's hard to imagine a world where David and Victoria Beckham aren't an item but once upon a time the young footballer was in love with another girl and he had a fling with a teammate's future wife.
David and Victoria Beckham are one of the ultimate power couples in showbiz but it's not been without its challenges, as the pair have previously been rocked by 'painful' cheating allegations against David - all of which he denies.
And according to a bombshell new book, The House of Beckham by Tom Bower, their marriage hit crisis point eight years ago when the animosity became so bad their publicists 'fed negative stories' about the other.
As the Mirror serialises the new tell-all biography, we look back at David's rarely-seen first love - and fling with Phil Neville's future wife.
Back in 1997, it was love at first sight when David and Victoria locked eyes at a charity football game at Manchester United's ground. But the stars had already set their sights on each other before their first encounter - with David pointing out Posh Spice in one of her music videos to his mates while Victoria had taken a fancy to 'Golden Balls' after seeing his photo in a sticker book. Since then, they've built an empire, juggling family life with their high-flying careers, now residing in a multi-million-pound London townhouse.
Once known for matching 'his and hers' outfits and romantic tattoos as a testament to their love, the couple's strong unity is now expressed through cheeky social media posts. But David had a few flings before meeting the love of his life - including with Julie Neville.
David's first love was with Texas student Jodi Price when he began his career with Manchester United. They met whilst on an aeroplane bound from Gatwick for her home in Dallas. Both 15, the teens were inseparable for the duration of the trip and spent the following two years writing love letters to each other and sending gifts.
Speaking with the Mirror in 2007, Jodie said: "It was one of those lovely things. I'm gonna blush when I tell you but, just before he had to go home, David held me and said in his funny English accent: 'I fink I'm in luv.' He was so sweet. I kissed him, of course I did. But I didn't say anything back."
She added: "That guy did so much for me without really knowing it. Seven months before we met I was in a car accident. I had 132 stitches in my face. I was still getting over it when we met, and he never seemed to notice the scars. For a teenage girl, that's some morale booster, especially when the guy who can't see the scars is funny, sweet, and handsome as hell."
David and Jodi's meeting was a sheer coincidence. She was returning from a spring break holiday in London with her high school friends. Also on that plane was a squad of Essex schoolboy footballers, including Beckham. "Early on, he asked my friend if he could sit next to me. And it was simple as that," Jodi explained.
"David was coming over for the Dallas Cup which is a prestigious international junior soccer affair. And I love soccer. In those days I was fanatical. I played left midfield for my high school.. Anyway, he seemed like a nice guy. Clean, button-down shirt - all that. A little skinny perhaps, but he kept making me laugh.
"My friend Kristen Morgan - she lives in London now - was getting on well with David's friend Gavin, so swapping seats worked out well. And we just decided, come what may, we'd see each during the time he was here. David had already been signed for Manchester United, but I didn't really understand how huge that was. I loved soccer, but had no realisation."
They drifted apart when Beckham started seeing enjoying success on the pitch while Jodi went to college, studying psychology and sociology. A few years later, at the age of 20, David started dating Julie Killiea, 19, in 1996. They made a public appearance as a couple at the premiere of the film Broken Arrow in Bury.
But a year later their relationship was over - reportedly because he had fallen for Victoria - and she went on to date and marry his teammate Phil Neville. There can't have been much awkwardness between the two couples as David and Victoria went to their wedding in 1999. They've have all remained good friends since and in 2022 Julie thanked the Beckhams for organising matching tattoos for them in celebration of her 45th birthday.
As for David and the then-Victoria Adams, it wasn't the most glamorous of starts. "My wife picked me out of a football sticker book and I chose her off the telly," David previously confessed, not long after marrying the Spice Girl. The footballer had pointed out Posh Spice to his best friend and teammate Gary Neville in the Spice Girls Say You'll Be There music video, saying: "Oh I like that one in the little black catsuit."
They finally shared their first encounter at a charity football match at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester and they hit it off instantly. In a letter she composed to her teenage self for British Vogue, Victoria later wrote: "Love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players' lounge - although you will get a little drunk, so exact details are hazy.
"While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. (He's not even in the first team at this stage – you are the famous one.) And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you."
Although at the time Victoria had been with long-term boyfriend Stuart Bilton, the smitten pair couldn't wait to see each other again and had arranged to meet in secret the next night. David has said it wasn't the "most romantic of first dates" as they met in a car park to avoid paparazzi or fans.
A year later, he popped the question to his 'soul mate' and four months after the birth of their first son, Brooklyn, David and Victoria became the Beckhams when they tied the knot on July 4, 1999. Victoria told The Sun last year: "We're soulmates.
"You go into a marriage knowing there are going to be ups and downs. We're in the public eye so we have more to deal with than most. We accepted that years ago. We love each other, and we're so lucky to have one another… It's just about us and the family."
The Beckhams will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on July 4 but investigative journalist Tom Bower claims in his new book that when their marriage was struggling eight years ago, their separate publicists got to work. "Reflecting the acrimony between the Beckhams, the two publicists began to compete rather than collaborate to promote their own client," he writes. "Both fed negative stories about the other side to their favourite tabloid journalists."
Bower detailed how one story involved "an extraordinary exchange that had occurred during the Beckhams' summer holidays' in which Victoria had reportedly told her children: 'Daddy's not a cheat'".
"Reading the newspaper report, Beckham raged that Victoria and her publicist were waging a media war against him," the book claims. "In reality, he was doing a good job of self-inflicted harm."
On another occasion, the author claims a publicist acting for the couple had devised a plan to stop media speculation their marriage was in trouble. "To deflect the media's attention a publicist released CCTV footage showing an attempt by masked burglars to break into the Beckhams' country home in Great Tew," he wrote.
The House of Beckham by Tom Bower is released on June 20 and is available to buy from Amazon.
