Victoria Beckham: "My Love For Manchester"

Prior to her appearance at Harvey Nichols in Manchester, Victoria Beckham spoke to local paper The Manchester Evening News were she revealed how she and husband David made a nostalgic return to their old haunts in Manchester - including their first home in Worsley - during the Spice Girls last tour.

She also spoke about life in LA and how she misses the Trafford Centre....

Victoria Beckham lets out a husky giggle. A sharp contrast to the sulky pout that many visualise her with. Posh is pondering the idea that her multi-million pound Los Angeles mansion has become something of a tourist attraction.

The official first stop, no less, on those Stars and Their Homes tours of the Hollywood Hills.

"You weren't one of those people outside my house were you?" she demands in a mock interrogatory tone when I tell her I have recently returned from a trip to L.A.

"Every time I come out of the drive in my car they all wave like we're characters out of Disney."

On my recent trip to Hollywood Boulevard, the Beckham name was on everyone's lips. From the street-side hustlers hoping to whisk you off on a tour to their house - to the taxi driver who took us back to the airport.

"I hear that Beckham's a real nice guy," he told us. "His son plays little league with my grandson and he just comes along like an ordinary dad, signing a few autographs for all the folks."

Proof indeed that the Beckham brand has been successfully exported Stateside.

"We really like it there, we've been made to feel really welcome," says Victoria, seemingly genuinely touched to hear such glowing feedback. "The kids are very happy at school, the weather is great and we have nice friends there."

"Tom Cruise is a really nice guy, all our kids hang out together and we live quite close," she says dismissing any notion of a fall-out with Tom's actress wife Katie Holmes.

"They are very positive the Americans," she adds. "We get involved with everything our kids do and I think that shows. We're very happy with the way they have taken to us. Things just get better and better for me."

Picturing life in their £11m Californian mansion, it's easy to imagine a fairytale existence.

The reality, says Victoria, is that far from lazing by the pool, she has been working as hard as ever, spearheading an ever-increasing range of products - from her DVB jeans range to a best-selling perfume.

And now she's back on the scene, pushing the latest product from Brand Beckham, a new perfume and men's fragrance - Signature For Her and For Him.

"There are things coming out now that I have been working on for years and years, I have really put in the groundwork," she says.

"This is why I am different to a lot of so-called celebrities, if you like, when it comes to fragrances."

"They don't have the involvement I have - I've been working on them for the last five years. I designed the bottles and the packaging. I'm very hands on - this is a business I own not just something I am putting my name on and I'm a bit of a control freak."

In today's WAG-obsessed culture, it is easy to lose sight of the former Spice Girl and see her as just another glamorous footballer's wife.

But of course she was the bigger star when she got engaged to the then fop-haired Manchester United midfielder David.

With naked ambition she transformed them from just another celebrity couple into the ultimate brand they are today. And, talking to her, there is no doubt that behind that immaculately groomed celebrity exterior lies a sharp business brain.

"Career-wise the opportunities and success I have had this year are outstanding, my brand is going from strength to strength," says the 34-year-old mum of three. "In America there are offers and opportunities in fashion."

"There are always people out there waiting for us fail," she adds, when asked if she's ever down-hearted by the negative press she receives. "But I don't let that deter me. I am such a perfectionist and am good at what I do."

Yet for all her attention to her career Victoria insists that family life with sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz is her top priority.

"I don't like to spend too long away from David and the kids. As soon as I get back to LA the kids have got to get their school uniforms - that's my next clothing project," she laughs. "I'm back to doing school runs. It's been nice to have a bit of a break but the school uniforms have to come first."

Self-deprecating and disarmingly chatty, the Victoria Beckham I speak to bears little resemblance to the moody, petulant star she is often portrayed as.

And her enthusiasm for the city where she met her husband is clear as she prepares to wow the inevitable crowds tomorrow.

"I'm very excited about coming back to Manchester, of course it's where I met David. And it's where we had our first house."

"In fact," she adds, conspiratorially. "When we were last in Manchester for the Spice Girls gig David and I drove back to that house in Hazelhurst Road (Worsley) to have a look. There are such fond memories for us - of the Trafford Centre and all that kind of thing. I know David misses Manchester as well and still keeps in touch with everyone."

"We always used to go off to the Trafford Centre with Brooklyn in his buggy."

That Posh's memories of Manchester should be defined by the shops should come as no surprise from a woman who says "I loved fashion way before music."

Although, it seems, she will always be proud of the Manchester part of her history.

"It was really fantastic," she says of the thunderous cheers that greeted her arrival on the M.E.N. Arena stage during the recent Spice Girls reunion tour.

"I was amazed - I didn't know how people were going to react to me. It was just phenomenal when I came out and got that reaction - it made me cry."

A reaction made even more amazing because it was shared with one of her new Hollywood pals - Eva Longoria who jetted in to Manchester to watch the show.

"Eva was sweet, she wanted to see the show in America but missed it."

"She was excited to come to Manchester - she loved it and we went out for some drinks afterwards."

Perhaps with that ringing endorsement we will see Mr and Mrs Beckham popping back to our fair city for many more years to come.


....I LOVED this interview. It was really refreshing as she did not recycle any of her usual quotes, so I felt I was learning something new about her.

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