Victoria Beckham has opened up about her long struggle with an eating disorder in her new Netflix documentary – and insiders tell RadarOnline.com the confession was a deeply personal plea to rebuild her relationship with her eldest son, Brooklyn.
The 51-year-old former Spice Girl and fashion designer lays bare her decades of body image battles in the three-part series Victoria Beckham, streaming now.
Victoria Beckham revealed her long struggle with an eating disorder in her new Netflix documentary.
A Painful Confession Meant for Brooklyn
She admitted food issues began after Brooklyn’s birth.
For the first time, she admits her relationship with food became “incredibly unhealthy” in the early 2000s, following the birth of Brooklyn, now 26.
The revelation comes amid ongoing tensions between Victoria and her son, who has been distant from his parents since his marriage to actor Nicola Peltz, 30.
In the documentary, Victoria reflects on her years of self-criticism and the intense pressure she felt living under public scrutiny. “I didn’t know what I saw when I looked in the mirror – was I fat, was I thin? You lose all sense of reality,” she said.
“I was very critical of myself, I didn’t like what I saw. I could control my clothing and my weight – and I was controlling it in an incredibly unhealthy way.”
A source close to the Beckham family said the emotional disclosure was “no accident.” The insider added: “Victoria has always been guarded, but this was her way of reaching out. She knows Brooklyn will see it. It’s her way of saying, ‘I’m being honest now – I hope you can be too.’ It’s less about publicity and more about showing vulnerability. That’s something she’s struggled with her whole life.”
From Posh Spice to Pressure and Pain
Her mother recalled teachers once called her overweight.
The documentary revisits her rise from a stage school student in Epsom, Surrey, to global fame as ‘Posh Spice.’
Her mother, Jackie Adams, recalled being told her daughter was “overweight” as a teenager and would be placed at the back of dance routines.
“Obviously it must upset you,” Adams said. “It’s a very silly thing to say to a young person.”
Throughout the series, Beckham appears poised but fragile, often speaking about the insecurities that have followed her since fame. She describes her early years in the Spice Girls as filled with “judgment and noise” and her post-pop life as a struggle to redefine herself.
“I felt lost,” she said of the period after she and David Beckham moved to Alderley Edge in the early 2000s. “Performing was all I knew how to do. When people tell you you’re not good enough over and over again, it hurts.”
Reaching Out Through Vulnerability
Insiders said she reached out to Brooklyn through the film.
A family friend said: “This is the most revealing Victoria has ever been. She’s showing cracks in the armor that’s always been so polished. It’s a cry for connection – especially with Brooklyn. She’s never stopped worrying about him.”
Brooklyn appears briefly in archive footage but does not feature in any new scenes. His absence, sources say, was a deliberate choice.
“There’s still a lot of tension,” another insider said. “Brooklyn feels protective of Nicola, and Victoria wants to respect that. But she misses her son. This was her olive branch.”
The film showed Victoria fragile yet poised.
The Netflix production, made in partnership with David Beckham’s Studio 99, also charted his and Victoria’s professional struggles and the near-collapse of his wife’s fashion brand.
Yet it is her candid admissions – not her couture – that dominate the show.
At one point, she said: “When you have an eating disorder you become very good at lying. I was never honest about it with my parents.”
Behind the glossy visuals of Miami and the Cotswolds, the film’s emotional core lies in the quiet confessions of a woman still searching for peace.
As one insider puts it: “For all the fame and fortune, Victoria’s greatest wish is still a simple one – to feel close to her family again.”
