Sunday Mirror Victoria Article/Interview - 8/11/00


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Blue Text = Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham On Babies, Marriage, And Her Solo Ambitions

Victoria Beckham saunters into the room cradling a rather tired looking Brooklyn in one arm. Removing her sunglasses, she flops into a chair definitely in need of a rest. Smiling broadly she says: "It's a lovely sunny day and I'm very, very happy. I've had my first day off for a long time and I've just taken this little boy to the zoo." The doting young mother in front of me is, to say the least, not what I had expected.

For a start there is not a single designer label in sight. The blue jeans and simple white cotton blouse she wears is the kind of outfit any young mother might choose for a day out with her toddler. Gone also is the painfully thin and gaunt look which caused so much controversy earlier this year. Looking tanned and toned Victoria, the pop star and wife of England and Manchester United footballer David Beckham, is clearly a woman happy with life. She has a fuller figure, the trademark sultry Posh Spice pout has been replaced with a broad grin, and she radiates a natural energy and beauty.

And candidly she speaks of her plans to have more children and how she went about reinventing herself as a solo artist. Victoria is the first to admit that she enjoys her wealth and fame - she is only 26 yet worth an estimated pounds 22.5 million. But the source of her real contentment is simply being a mother. And it's a role she clearly relishes.

"I'm working so hard at the moment so there's lot to juggle around. The main things in my life are being a mum, David and my music. Being a part of Brooklyn's life is very important to me. I just couldn't cope with the idea of palming him off with some nanny. I take him along to work with me if I'm in the studio or whatever. I create a little creche in the corner and he absolutely loves it. Whether the fans like the new record (Out Of Your Mind by Truesteppers and Dane Bowers featuring Victoria Beckham which is out tomorrow) has yet to be seen. I know for a fact Brooklyn loves it and in a strange way that's as important as anything. At home the other night he was tottering around the front room saying `mind, mind'. When I sing a line to him from the song he claps and says `again, again'. We have to really watch him at the moment, though. He tries to do his little kamikaze act by climbing up the stairs and attempting to jump off. I have to keep a close eye on him. Seeing Brooklyn grow up like this is wonderful. It's the little moments that both David and I cherish."

And being a mother, the tragic death of Sarah Payne hit her hard.

"I can't begin to imagine how her parents must feel. When things like this happen it puts everything in to perspective. You spend your life worrying about the trivial day-to-day stuff when things like this are going on. It's the most awful, terrible thing. When they find the person who did it, they should put them in a room with the girl's family and let them do whatever they want with them."

Within a couple of months of Brooklyn being born there were rumours that Victoria was pregnant again. Although she categorically denies this as just gossip it is plain that she wants a bigger family.

"Yes we are definitely going to have more kids," she says. "I mean what else is there? There have been lots of rumours about me being pregnant. People have been asking for me for over a year if I am, but I'm definitely not at the moment."

Rumours and celebrity are something which go hand-in-hand. Most of the time they are tolerable, but the talk which surrounded Victoria's loss of weight following Brooklyn's birth was one of the hardest things she has had to cope with since becoming a star.

"I probably am a little bit too small, but this is the way that I look and there is little I can do about it. Some fairly nasty things have been said about me and at the time I found it hard to cope with. I remember looking at pictures of myself at the time and crying. I looked awful in some of them. But I had myself checked out and I was told I was fine. People may want me to look bigger and I can understand that. But saying that, I know I'm healthy and my family knows I'm healthy and for me that's all that really counts."

It is not unusual for some women to experience a dramatic loss in weight after giving birth and it also happened to Victoria's mother.

"You ask any woman and she'll tell you your body changes after giving birth. Some women get bigger and some smaller. All I really know is that I'm a lot smaller now than I was before I had Brooklyn. It happened to my mother as well so in some ways it's quite understandable. Wearing certain clothes and being photographed in a certain way can also make you look thinner than you are. Sometimes I can be looking thin in a corset and someone will take my photograph. Then some rubbish will be written around that photograph. It's funny how they never bother to use the pictures of me when I'm just relaxing in a pair of jeans that makes me look a bit bigger. People can make you look however they want you to. I try not to let it bother me. If I did I'd probably be upset a lot of the time."

As well as a change in her physical appearance, Victoria has clearly opted for a change in image. In the video for her new single there is no trace of the Posh Spice of old. Her trademark high heels and short skirts have been replaced. What emerges is a long-haired diva wearing tiled mirror belts and a lean leather coat. Her latest incarnation is the work of London designer and stylist Wale Adeyemi, who was responsible for the major overhaul of Missy Elliot and Puff Daddy's wardrobes. His couture designs can sell for up to pounds 5,000.

"When I heard the new song I thought to myself high heels and a short skirt are not going to go with this. I was introduced to Wale and we just seemed to click. It was very much the two of us working together to come up with the new look. I had these vague concepts in my head and Wale made them a reality."

Before the initial meeting Adeyemi, 28, studied scores of photos and took careful notes of the look she had up until then. Now he has dressed her in white, turquoise, purple and black leather as well as the long overcoats worn in the cult science-fiction film The Matrix.

"I knew I wanted to create a futuristic look which was slick and also of the street," says Wale. "But it was important to keep a little bit of Posh in there. Victoria has a natural knack with clothes. She seems to have a good eye for how certain things will go together. This made working with her quite easy. You hear a lot about pop stars being prima donnas but Victoria was one of the easiest people I have ever worked with. Victoria's long hair extensions, which husband David adores, were also one of Wale's ideas. "We were going to leave her hair short but long hair augments the clothes so we went for it," he says.

Victoria, speaking at his offices in East London, adds: "I loved the new look Wale created for me. The hair extensions, in particular, went down very well with David. He thought they really suited me. But they totally confused Brooklyn. The poor boy didn't recognise me at all."

Victoria insists her solo career and her carefully tailored new look does not mark the end of the Spice Girls. She does admit that working on her own was a new, but also welcome, challenge.

"Working without the other girls was a strange experience at first. I was really nervous but after a while I got my confidence and the whole thing began to click into place. A lot of people have been very cynical about my solo career saying they doubt I have what it takes, but I have an album coming out next year and I've been working very hard. If I say so myself, I think I'm doing OK. As far as the record is concerned I couldn't be more pleased about the way it's come out. It's a bit of a departure for me but I've always been a bit of a dance music fan so it was really interesting to get involved in something like this. But I did find it annoying that I was criticised recently for miming on stage. I've sung live with the Spice Girls so I don't have to prove that I can sing. Artists like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and even Britney Spears often don't sing live when there is a manic dance routine involved in the show. It's basically impossible. If I had sung live there would have been a lot of grunting and groaning between the singing. I think I'm a pretty positive role model for kids. I'm not out getting pissed every night and shagging lots of different men so if they slag me off then I don't give a shit."

On her husband's career Victoria is less forthcoming. When she is asked about a rumoured move to a foreign club she smiles but refuses to comment. Victoria Beckham is growing up fast. She wants more children, and now sees her family as the most important thing in her life. She may still be a Spice Girl but a solo career is beckoning. So does the transition from garish teen singer to mature solo artist mean we are about to see the end of Posh?

"There are certain people who like to forget their past and the way they have looked, but I would never do that. Posh Spice is something that will always be in me. If I go out at the weekend I will probably have on a little skirt and a pair of high heels because that's me. And there's no chance of me running out of high heels. I must have 200 pairs."

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