According to David Beckham‘s carefully curated public image, the former soccer star is a doting family man who is completely and utterly devoted to his wife and four kids.
But there have also been rumours of infidelity that have plagued the 43-year-old for years, with reports of affairs with multiple women dating as far back as 2004.
Despite the repeated rumours though, the public seems to be quick to forgive and forget when it comes to David’s alleged indiscretions – a testament, no doubt, to his expertly crafted image as a committed family man.
Most recently, David has been linked to his six-year-old daughter Harper’s school teacher, amid reports he allegedly impregnated her.
The reports surfaced on Twitter late last week, with multiple insiders saying it was just a matter of time before David and his wife of 19 years, Victoria Beckham, announced their divorce, as reported by Mamamia.
But as has become the norm for the PR-savvy couple, they were quick to shut down the rumours, issuing denials to various media outlets.
“This is nonsense,” a spokesperson for Victoria, 44, told Harper’s Bazaar almost as soon as the story broke.
“There is no statement due, no divorce, and a lot of Chinese whispers and fake social media news,” a spokesperson for the couple told The Sun.
“This is all very bizarre and an embarrassing waste of time.”
Proving it was business as usual for the pair, Victoria also shared a photo on Instagram of herself and David looking affectionate in what appeared to have been a candid moment.
“#momentcaptured,” she wrote, adding a love heart emoji.
Their handling of these latest rumours is nothing new for the couple, who have artfully managed to shut down every report about David’s many rumoured affairs over the years.
According to The Telegraph, the Beckhams have three public relations teams on hand to deal with such reports whenever they arise. Victoria even has an assistant phone her every day to “brief” her on any media reports that have been published about her and her family.
The first report of David’s alleged infidelity emerged in 2004, when the former Real Madrid star was rumoured to have had a months-long affair with his assistant, Rebecca Loos.
“I was getting a few innuendos but I kept saying, ‘No he doesn’t fancy you,'” Loos told Sky News, as reported by Mamamia.
“I would always say to myself, ‘Don’t risk your job,’ and I knew there was a huge risk involved if I got involved with this man.”
Still, Loos said they first slept together after they “connected” on a night out with friends, and claimed there were “problems” in the Beckhams’ marriage before the affair.
The Beckhams were quick to strike back against Loos, with Victoria reportedly calling her and “warning her to back off”, as reported by E! Online.
Victoria and the couple’s kids then flew to Switzerland to meet up with David – who had been training in Madrid – for what appeared to be crisis talks disguised as a family holiday.
David also released a statement denying the claims, and branding them “ludicrous”.
“The simple truth is that I am very happily married. I have a wonderful wife and two very special kids. There is nothing any third party can do to change these facts,” he said at the time, as reported by E! Online.
The couple also threatened Loos with legal action.
“What are they consulting their lawyers for? What can they do? I think they have worked very hard at getting the image they have and I think they will do everything they can to maintain it,” Loos responded, as reported by E! Online.
“So whether that involves having happy shots taken or calling their lawyers, it’s up to them. I am 100 percent sure of what I am talking about, there is no doubt in my mind, I have no reason to lie… He knows the truth and I know the truth.”
Shortly after reports of his affair with Loos emerged, David made headlines once again for yet another rumoured affair, this time with a Malaysian-born Australian model named Sarah Marbeck.
“He said he felt he’d been hit by a sledgehammer from the first time he saw me,” Marbeck told News of the World, as reported by Mamamia.
Marbeck claimed she exchanged sexually explicit text messages with the sports star for two years, but David called the story “absurd and unsubstantiated”, as reported by E! Online.
“We have been through a lot worse than this, and we’re definitely going to get through this,” Victoria told The Sun, as reported by E! Online.
She then relocated to Spain with the couple’s children, to be closer to her husband.
That same year, a beautician named Danielle Heath also claimed she’d had an affair with David.
“We are sick and tired of people trying to make money at the expense of our family,” the couple said in a statement, as reported by E! Online.
“These allegations are completely untrue and it is in the hands of our lawyers.”
The Beckhams again threatened legal action in 2010, after David was rumoured to have had sex with a Bosnian-born prostitute named Irma Nici on five separate occasions in 2007 at London’s Claridge’s hotel.
“I have never met Nici, let alone committed adultery with Nici or paid her for sex,” David said in a signed declaration, as reported by The Telegraph.
“Irma Nici’s statements have caused me and my family great anguish and emotional distress, and have adversely affected both my personal and professional life.”
Calling the claims made by Nici “completely false”, the Beckhams threatened to sue In Touch magazine, who initially ran the story.
“Sadly, we live in a world where a magazine can print lies and believe they can get away with it,” a spokesperson for the couple said, as reported by The Telegraph.
This has always been the pattern for the high-profile couple when allegations are made – issue a denial and then threaten legal action.
In 2012, the Beckhams were again faced with cheating allegations, amid reports David had had an affair with Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins, who he was seen enjoying a night out with.
Katherine, 37, quickly denied the affair on Twitter.
“Dear Twitter friends, I’ve read some horrible rumours on here & want u 2 know I absolutely deny I’ve had an affair with David Beckham,” she wrote, as reported by News.com.au.
“Just so we are clear I have never been on my own with him and never arranged to meet up. We were out in a group of friends & it was just a normal fun evening.”
The Beckhams remained surprisingly quiet about the allegations, most likely because Katherine had denied them herself.
“Victoria and David have been through a lot and love each other. There’s no way she’d let the family get dragged into a Twitter soap opera,” a source told Look magazine, as reported by the Daily Mail.
‘The rumours are not true, but that doesn’t stop them being hurtful.”
According to David though, while his marriage isn’t perfect, he’s committed to making it work.
“Of course you make mistakes, and we all know that marriage is difficult at times. It is about working through it. We have come up against tough times. But we know each other better than anyone else knows us. And we talk,” he told BBC Radio 4 last year, as reported by E! Online.
“Do we stay together because it is a brand? Of course not. We stay together because we love each other and because we have four amazing children.”
While none of the cheating allegations against David Beckham have been proven true, looking into the way the famous couple handle the rumours with military precision, will always be quite fascinating.