It’s been over 20 years since Rebecca Loos was thrust into the spotlight following her alleged affair with married footballer David Beckham.
Yet her harsh ordeal on the new series of Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins sadly proves that the desire to vilify her is just as strong as ever.
Despite turning her back on fame – relocating to Norway with her doctor husband Sven Christjar Skaiaa and becoming a yoga teacher – Rebecca claimed she was motivated to do the show because it’s a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’; and to see if she could ‘stick through it mentally’.
However, the interrogation she endured from the instructors in Episode 1 focused harshly on her scandal, with barely a mention of her current life as a wife and mother of two.
Loos remained remarkably calm throughout – ‘If they had asked me about more issues that are fresher in my heart, like my youngest son’s diagnosis with a kind of autism just a few months before I went on the show, then they might have broken me down, got the waterworks going,’ Loos said in an interview – but the obsessive focus on her 20-year-old affair felt punishing.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The questioning touched on whether she had any regrets, then shifted to what she thought might ‘happen’ after her alleged relationship with Beckham.
‘The only focus is ever on the f***ing Beckham situation,’ Loos said to the cameras, visibly emotional.
‘It felt unjust that my life was pretty hell and his career and his life just kept blossoming,’ she continued; going on to remind the cameras: ‘He was older than me, and he was my boss.’
You may argue that Loos has put herself in the firing line, but her treatment is in stark contrast to that of her fellow team member, footballer Troy Deeney.
Deeney was sentenced in 2012 for affray, after attacking a group of students near a nightclub, along with three other men. One student lay injured on the floor as he received blows to the head from Deeney and another man.
Yet, the Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins instructors appeared sympathetic during Deeney’s interrogation as he attributed his actions to grief over his father’s illness.
They also drew attention to his ‘drive’ as a sportsman and encouraged him to look at the show as an opportunity to feel proud without ‘the outside noise’.
Similarly, former rugby star Ben Foden was seemingly afforded a platform to portray himself as a victim when he appeared on the show in 2019, shortly after admitting to being unfaithful to his then-wife Una Healy with PR executive Becky Milne.
Describing his life prior to the show as having been ‘turned upside down both professionally and personally’, he said it was ‘nice’ to have the opportunity to ‘take myself away from that’.
Why is it that a woman’s moral character remains defined by her past, while men are so often granted space to evolve, rebrand, and be redeemed?
Loos’ appearance on the reality series comes less than two years after the Beckham scandal was rehashed during the footballer’s four-part self-titled 2023 Netflix documentary.
While David and wife Victoria never mentioned her by name during the series, there were hints; and Loos noted at the time that her Instagram follower count had risen and her photos were attacked with hateful comments that called her a ‘groupie’, a ‘homewrecker’ and accused her of ‘skanky’ behaviour.
‘How disgusting’, said one user. ‘Liar’, said a second. ‘You KNEW he was married…enough said,’ wrote a third. ‘You just want attention. Get over it,’ said yet another.
It was all too reminiscent of the early noughties.
When the story of Rebecca and David’s alleged affair first broke in 2004, Rebecca’s image seemed to be plastered across every front page and, within days, former ‘friends’ had sold stories about her.
David was seemingly able to move on from the scandal unscathed. He denied the claims, put on a united front with Victoria and just weeks later, landed a £40million endorsement deal with Gillette.
But Loos, who was just 26 at the time, went from private figure to punchline overnight.
Whatever you feel about her claims, there’s no doubt that it must be hard to sit back in silence while the world creates their own narrative for you. So she spoke out.
She was reportedly paid £350,000 to talk to the News of the World, and was advised by celebrity agent Max Clifford, who she claimed had promised her ‘ridiculous money’ if she went into ‘all the juicy details’.
She appeared to want to capitalise on her newfound fame with lad mag shoots and reality TV stints – but what choice did she have?
Her notoriety would have made it impossible to return to her previous role.
Sadly, though, her venture into reality TV was yet another opportunity to drag her through the mud and humiliate her.
Her appearance on Channel 5’s The Farm in 2004 saw her asked to extract semen from a nine-month-old boar, which was meant to be used to impregnate pigs on the farm.
In 2005, she appeared on Celebrity Love Island and sparked speculation she’d had sex with Calum Best. Even though she was single at the time,‘So that’s why she’s called Loos’, a headline read.
A year later, she starred on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars and was paired with James Hewitt, who had previously claimed he had an affair with Princess Diana. Judge Sharon Osborne blasted the pair for singing Addicted to Love and advised Loos – who was only wearing a short dress with no lingerie issues – to ‘try doing tomorrow’s performance with your knickers on’.
No matter what Loos did, she could never outrun her past with Beckham.
And that statement seems to still be true 21 years on.
In promotional photos for Celeb SAS: Who Dares Wins on her Instagram page, Loos opted to limit comments. An understandable decision, given the wave of online abuse she previously faced amidst the Beckham documentary.
And in the trailer for the rest of the show, clips that show her being screamed at and punched while sparring – not to mention the overt Beckham focus during her interrogation – evoke memories of the harsh and often degrading experiences she faced at the hands of early noughties TV.
While David has gone on to enjoy greater fame, wealth, and even a knighthood, Loos’ appearance on SAS: Who Dares Wins proves that for many, she will forever be known as ‘the other woman’.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.