Rebecca Loos (born 19 June 1977) is a Dutch model and singer, who was brought to media attention following claims that she conducted an affair with the married football player David Beckham—while employed as his personal assistant. The revelation made her into a media personality, and she has since appeared on several reality television series.
Biography
Personal life
Loos was born in Madrid, Spain, but she has Dutch citizenship.2 Her father was Leonard Loos Bartholdi, a Dutch diplomat, and her mother, Elizabeth Loos, is originally from Surrey, England.3 Growing up, she was privately educated. After moving back to Madrid in 2002, Loos worked for an American investment bank.
When the former England football captain David Beckham moved to Real Madrid, Loos became his personal assistant during the transition period, alongside SFX agent and the former Australian international footballer Andy Bernal, who spoke Spanish fluently.
Beckham and Loos worked closely together both professionally and socially4 and Loos claimed that she became an "alternative wife". Victoria Beckham was not initially happy in Madrid, and wanted to develop her UK music career, so she spent much of her time in England. Loos claimed this resulted in Beckham becoming bored, leading them to spend almost all their time together socially, and a four-month affair was the alleged result. However this was never confirmed and Victoria Beckham was recently quoted in W magazine saying the alleged affair only made their marriage stronger.5.
In April 2004, British tabloid newspaper News of the World published a story claiming that she and Beckham an affair.6
Shortly after the newspaper coverage of her relationship with David Beckham, Loos came out publicly as bisexual, saying "I am indeed bisexual and have been ever since I was a teenager"7.
In 2005, to protest against America's laws on gay marriage, Loos married the American fashion model Jenny Shimizu for the TV program Power Lesbian UK8. It was broadcast in the USA as Power Lesbians on LOGO which profiled successful lesbians in Los Angeles. The two shared a relationship for a period afterwards.
On, 17 July 2009 in Oslo, Loos gave birth to a son, Magnus Leon Loos Skaiaa. The father is Norwegian doctor Sven Christjar Skaiaa9 10.
On her homepage, Rebecca writes:
We have named our beautiful son Magnus Leon Loos Skaiaa. He was born in Oslo in the early hours of 17 July weighing 3.3 kilos. As is well we are home and enjoying every minute of this new little person in our lives.
Career
In 2004, Loos briefly was a hostess on the Dutch TV program Shownieuws (along with the former Eurovision Song Contest singer Gerard Joling who represented the Netherlands in 1988.) Her appearance was short-lived, partly due to the strength of her English accent when speaking Dutch. Loos failed to attract the ratings producers had hoped for and was dropped from the showcitation needed.
In October 2004, she appeared on the reality television programme The Farm, a Channel 5 version of the RTE show Celebrity Farm. At one point, Loos was famously given the task of masturbating a pig to collect its semen. The broadcast of this provoked controversy and attracted complaints. The RSPCA criticised the show's producers for "morbid and sordid fascination with farm animals".11
The incident generated tabloid headlines once again for Loos. It was also viewed by some commentators as an apt example of the depths to which minor celebrities would plumb for public exposure, and the lengths to which the producers of reality television would go to in order to satisfy the interests of viewers12.
In 2005, Loos appeared on the ITV network "reality" TV show Celebrity Love Island, where she sparked up a relationship with the model Calum Best. Their relationship managed to cause a stir in the British tabloids when the pair discarded their microphones and disappeared in the resort's toilets together for fifteen minutes13. In 2006, she played for the England Women's soccer football team in a Sky TV charity event. In April of the same year, Loos ran in the London Marathon, and raised over £7000 in sponsorship for the British Red Cross.
In May 2006, Loos, along with James Hewitt, appeared in The X Factor: Battle of the Stars in which she famously received a negative reception from one of the judges, Sharon Osbourne and the show's audience alike.
In 2007 Loos was a contestant in the new season of the Spanish version of Survivor in which she came third. In November 2007 she appeared in Sky TV's Cirque de Celebrite in which she was one of two new contestants introduced mid-way through the series. The two would go head-to-head in a public vote to see which would stay on for the remainder of the series. A week later she was voted out by the public.citation needed
In 2008, Loos was a guest hostess on The Podge and Rodge Show.citation needed
In 2008 Loos released her first single, entitled "Your Boyfriend".
Major media appearances
References
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4590683/Rebecca-Loos-reveals-pregnancy-with-new-man.html
- ^ Official Website
- ^ "Rebecca Loos Biography: Posh vs Very Posh". Thisislondon.co.uk. 1999-03-04. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-10116779-details/Posh+vs+Very+Posh/article.do. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ "Life in the very fast lane with Beckham's buddies", The Age, 11 February 2007.
- ^ "'Me & Beckham, by Rebecca Loos", Sunday Mirror, 11 April 2004.
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4590683/Rebecca-Loos-reveals-pregnancy-with-new-man.html
- ^ "When Hello means Bi for now" The Observer, 9 May 2004.
- ^ "Jenny Shimizu & Rebecca Loos: what's the story?", by Jane Czyzselka, Diva magazine, November 2005. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ Rebecca Loos gives birth
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4590683/Rebecca-Loos-reveals-pregnancy-with-new-man.html
- ^ http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/features/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4590867
- ^ "the shady world of the celebrity booker". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/aug/10/realitytv.broadcasting. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ Rebecca and Callum's toilet antics Yahoo! Entertainment News, June 2, 2005
External links