They are the two tell-all documentaries that have had millions gripped. In the Netflix corner is Beckham, a four-part series released this month that looks back at the former England star’s career and his relationship with wife Victoria.
With 3.8 million views in its first week, it has been the streaming service’s biggest UK hit of the year.
Meanwhile, released last week on Disney+ is Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, taking a look at the bitter Rebekah Vardy v Coleen libel case.
Here, CLAUDIA CONNELL gives her verdict on who comes out on top in this TV cup tie…
They are the two tell-all documentaries that have had millions gripped: Beckham (left) and Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story (right)
YOUNG LOVE AND AN INSTANT CONNECTION
Netflix’s Beckham: From the moment he saw Victoria on TV performing with the Spice Girls, David knew he wanted to marry her.
Manchester United teammate Gary Neville told how, after their first date, David would talk to Posh Spice for five hours at a time on the phone in the bathroom.
What did they talk about? ‘Dunno really,’ says silver-tongued David as he shares pictures of the two of them in the early stages of dating.
Luckily, he made up for his lack of witty repartee by jetting across the Atlantic just to spend a few hours with her while she was touring the States.
From the moment he saw Victoria on TV performing with the Spice Girls, David knew he wanted to marry her
Holding up her phone to show the viewer cute pictures of her and Wayne as teenagers, she shares how she was still a schoolgirl when they met
Disney’s Coleen: Holding up her phone to show the viewer cute pictures of her and Wayne as teenagers, she shares how she was still a schoolgirl when they met.
He played football at the youth club near her home and would yell out ‘gis a date’, as she walked by. Who could resist? Not Coleen.
Wayne reveals that he always thought his future wife was posh and wouldn’t go for someone like him.
Unable to believe his luck that she was interested, he rushed to get her name tattooed on his arm.
Result: A win for team Beckham. Posh and Becks were besotted the moment they met.
MUMS WHO DON’T MINCE THEIR WORDS
Beckham: David’s parents feature heavily in his series, with mum Sandra sharing home movie footage of David as a young boy.
She reveals that she worried her husband Ted pushed their son too hard to be a good football player and how upset she was at her son’s treatment after he was sent off in the 1998 World Cup.
She also wasn’t impressed when Victoria, who was in the U.S. with the Spice Girls at the time, called at 3am to speak to David before an important match. She refused to wake David up to take the call.
‘I was worried he’d lose all he worked for because football had always come first and all of a sudden it wasn’t.’
David’s parents feature heavily in his series, with mum Sandra (pictured) sharing home movie footage of David as a young boy
Colette McLoughlin (pictured), Coleen’s mum, doesn’t hold back when she’s asked about Wayne’s drunken antics
Coleen: Colette McLoughlin, Coleen’s mum, doesn’t hold back when she’s asked about Wayne’s drunken antics.
Referring to the 2017 incident when Wayne was caught in a car with another woman after a night drinking, she says: ‘I love him but sometimes I don’t like him. I feel like shaking him. He’s hurt Coleen and that’s what matters.’
Result: A score draw — both mums seem equally irritated by their offspring’s partners at different times in the past.
FOUR BABIES EACH… AND THEN A TELLING SNIP
Beckham: Victoria is unapologetic as she admits calling David to tell him she was pregnant just as he was about to go on to the pitch and play Argentina in the 1998 World Cup — the match that ended with him getting a red card.
She reveals how she gave birth to eldest son Brooklyn at London’s Portland Hospital, where she had a caesarean section on medical advice and not — she adds huffily — because she was ‘too posh to push’.
She also says that, despite her exhaustion, David asked her to style his hair before he went out to announce the baby news to the media throng.
She reveals how she gave birth to eldest son Brooklyn (pictured) at London ‘s Portland Hospital, where she had a caesarean section on medical advice and not — she adds huffily — because she was ‘too posh to push’
Also parents to four children, Coleen discloses that Wayne ‘got the snip’, after the arrival of youngest son Cass (pictured), five. In fact, Wayne’s vasectomy was one of the ways in which Coleen caught Rebekah Vardy out
Coleen: Also parents to four children, Coleen discloses that Wayne ‘got the snip’, after the arrival of youngest son Cass, five. In fact, Wayne’s vasectomy was one of the ways in which Coleen caught Rebekah Vardy out.
She admits planting a fake story on her Instagram, that only Rebekah could see, about looking into gender selection for her next baby — a story that later appeared in The Sun.
The Disney+ series features plenty of pictures of the Rooney clan in matching pyjama sets and a snap of Coleen in her hospital bed after Cass was born. A beaming Wayne is by her side.
Result: A victory for Coleen. Rebekah getting snared by Wayne’s snip is just too good for words.
NEAT-FREAK WARDROBES
Beckham: Perfectionist David proudly shows the narrator around his super-organised wardrobe where his shirts are sorted by colour and fabric, his T-shirts folded.
His trousers are kept in a separate wardrobe, and he angrily remarks ‘Someone’s been in here’ as he notices that some of the hangers have been moved.
In the corner of his bedroom is a rail where his clothes for the week are placed. ‘I prep my wardrobe a week ahead,’ he says, right down to the shoes and socks, admitting that, yes, he may be a tad obsessive.
Perfectionist David proudly shows the narrator around his super-organised wardrobe where his shirts are sorted by colour and fabric, his T-shirts folded
Each son was assigned his own rail where she placed the school shirts, jumpers and blazers, with a laundry basket underneath for socks, pants and PE items
Coleen: The Wagatha Christie libel case meant Coleen had to spend time away from her children. Before heading off to her London hotel, she would organise the four boys’ clothes for the week ahead.
Each son was assigned his own rail where she placed the school shirts, jumpers and blazers, with a laundry basket underneath for socks, pants and PE items.
The boys also had individual backpacks, labelled for days of the week and activities.
Result: Beckham wins. David makes Marie Kondo look like a slob.
BLING… AND A BIG DAY FIT FOR A WAG
Beckham: Both David and Victoria appear faintly embarrassed by their outrageously over-the-top 1999 wedding at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland, which they sold to OK! magazine for a reported £1 million.
David claims that the matching purple outfits they wore at the reception were all Victoria’s idea. ‘I just took Victoria’s lead on it but what were we thinking?’ he asks.
Victoria insists it was fun, adding that she couldn’t remember where the idea for the matching thrones came from.
Both David and Victoria appear faintly embarrassed by their outrageously over-the-top 1999 wedding at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland, which they sold to OK! magazine for a reported £1 million. David claims that the matching purple outfits (pictured) they wore at the reception were all Victoria’s idea
Engaged at 18, Coleen admits that she loved to ‘flash’ her £250,000 ring. She says her world blew up when Wayne became famous and even published her autobiography Welcome To My World when she was just 21
Coleen: Engaged at 18, she admits that she loved to ‘flash’ her £250,000 ring. She says her world blew up when Wayne became famous and even published her autobiography Welcome To My World when she was just 21.
Now preferring tailored trouser suits, there are flashbacks of her in Juicy Couture tracksuits and Ugg boots as she promotes her fitness video and book.
Result: A win for Beckham. No wedding will ever be as WAG-tastic as the Beckhams’.
SOCCER ROYALTY TO THE MANOR BORN
Beckham: A far cry from the OTT days of Beckingham Palace, the mega-mansion in Hertfordshire that they sold for £11.5 million in 2014, today the Beckhams are all about country cosy living and minimal city chic.
Scenes shot at their £35 million West London home reveal the impressive chef’s kitchen, which David likes to keep pristine.
However most of the action takes place at their £12 million Cotswolds home, where David loves to play country squire. Outside shots reveal huge grounds, a lake, football pitch and a field where David keeps bees.
A far cry from the OTT days of Beckingham Palace, the mega-mansion in Hertfordshire that they sold for £11.5 million in 2014, today the Beckhams are all about country cosy living and minimal city chic
Footage show Coleen driving up the long, private road to her £20 million Cheshire pile set in 40 acres (pictured above)
Coleen: Footage show Coleen driving up the long, private road to her £20 million Cheshire pile set in 40 acres.
We see the football pitch, a lake, streams and bridges, an indoor swimming pool and a special annexe for Wayne’s trophies.
Result: A Coleen victory. Now that’s what you call a WAG residence.
MISBEHAVING HUSBANDS AND WRONGED WIVES
Beckham: Although David never admits to the alleged affair with his former PA Rebecca Loos, he discusses dark days in his marriage while he was playing for Real Madrid in 2003.
He talks about his homesickness, as Victoria had (at first) decided to stay in England. ‘I think we both felt at the time that we were not losing each other but drowning.’
Victoria reveals ‘100 per cent it was the hardest time for us, it felt like the world was against us. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was.’
Victoria reveals ‘100 per cent it was the hardest time for us, it felt like the world was against us. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was’
Following previous indiscretions, Coleen admits she moved into her parents’ house and that it took her a long time to forgive Wayne
Coleen: She reveals that Wayne is a ‘different person’ when he’s been drinking.
When she confronted him after he was caught drunk behind the wheel of Laura Simpson’s car in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, in 2017 he didn’t have a lot to say for himself.
Following previous indiscretions, Coleen admits she moved into her parents’ house and that it took her a long time to forgive Wayne.
Result: Beckham wins. Nobody coughs up to cheating but the Beckhams say the marriage was rocked.
…AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Court cases, cheating scandals and drink- driving aside, both series end with the couples hugging each other and singing and dancing.
David and Victoria sing along to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ hit Islands In The Stream.
Coleen and Wayne snuggle up at a Lewis Capaldi concert as he performs his song Someone You Loved. Wayne sings the words to Coleen, perhaps unaware that it’s about a man dumped by the love of his life.