Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl once known to the world as “Posh,” has finally addressed the question that has followed her for nearly three decades: why she never seemed to smile and became known as a “miserable cow.”
The revelation came in Victoria Beckham, her new three-part Netflix documentary released on October 9, which traces her journey from pop icon to fashion mogul while peeling back the layers of insecurity that shaped her public persona.
“I’ve looked miserable for all these years because when we stand on the red carpet, this guy has always gone on the left,” Victoria explained, pointing to her husband, David Beckham.
Victoria Beckham revealed the surprising reason behind her infamous reluctance to smile
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She then clarified by saying that she meant she believed her face has a “good side” and a “bad side” when smiling. In other words, she only feels confident showing one of them, but as David tends to stand to that side in photos, she opts to not smile at all.
Her husband, however, offers a completely different explanation. He believes that something deeper in Victoria changed as the years passed.
Image credits: Netflix
The woman he first met was nothing like the icy fashion figure the world would later see.
“When I first met Victoria, she was smiley, she was bubbly, she was confident, but that started to disappear,” he said.
Image credits: Netflix
Victoria admitted that she was well aware of the “miserable cow” label, but said there was a deeper reason behind it than vanity, something that has been with her for most of her life.
“I was bullied, awkward, wasn’t particularly sociable, I just didn’t fit in,” she said. “I desperately wanted to be liked,” she revealed.
Victoria said it all began with the Spice Girls breaking up, an event that shattered her confidence
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After the Spice Girls broke up in 2001, Victoria admitted she felt lost and needed to feel a sense of purpose. For years, being “Posh Spice” had given her identity and control. When that disappeared, so did her confidence.
Without the group, she said she struggled to understand who she was or what she could offer on her own. Every public appearance turned into a reminder that she was no longer part of something bigger.
Image credits: Netflix
“I’d rather not be that person,” she confessed. “I’d love to have the confidence to stand on a red carpet and smile, but I just can’t do it.”
After the split, Victoria tried to launch a solo music career, but it didn’t go as planned. Her singles underperformed, and critics compared her unfavorably to her bandmates.
At the same time, some segments of the public started painting her as the least talented member of the group, which only made things worse.
In the documentary, she implies that this period marked a breaking point. She went from performing in stadiums to screaming fans to being ridiculed by tabloids for trying to stay relevant.
It wasn’t until she found success in fashion years later that she began to rebuild her sense of self. Designing clothes gave her the validation she had once gotten from performing.
Still, her smile was never the same.
Some viewers criticized the documentary for avoiding some of Victoria’s most notable controversies
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The docuseries then shifts its focus beyond Victoria’s image, centering instead on her life after the height of Spice Girls fame and her evolution into a designer and mother.
Yet, the turn it takes left some viewers dissatisfied, particularly over its reluctance to address two of the most controversial chapters in her life: David’s alleged affair and her strained relationship with her eldest son, Brooklyn.
Image credits: Karwai Tang/WireImage
While Victoria Beckham delves into her career in fashion and the pressures of preparing for a high-stakes Paris runway show, it sidesteps the infidelity allegations that shook her marriage two decades ago.
Those claims, which emerged in the early 2000s, resurfaced in her husband’s 2023 Netflix documentary Beckham, where Victoria admitted that period was the “hardest of her life.”
Equally noticeable is Brooklyn’s absence. The couple’s 26-year-old son does not appear in the documentary, reviving speculation of tension between him, his wife Nicola Peltz, and the rest of the family.
From an overuse of Botox to psychological issues, netizens shared their own theories as to why Victoria doesn’t smile
Image credits: Netflix
Online reactions to Victoria’s confession have been divided.
“I think she tried to address lifelong anxiety and insecurity issues,” one commenter wrote, praising her vulnerability. “It’s hard for some people to fake it even when they are famous and literally on the red carpet, which isn’t the true pinnacle of happiness anyway.”
Others mocked her explanation, with one user writing, “My nerf football never smiled either. They’re made of the same product.”
Image credits: Netflix
Some took issue with the focus on Victoria’s smile, believing that no one would question if David didn’t smile.
“No one is ‘concerned’ about men not smiling,” a reader wrote.
Still, some dismissed the entire explanation, believing the answer to Victoria’s serious expression is something more mundane: cosmetic surgery.
“It’s not that she doesn’t want to smile or she won’t smile. She CAN’T smile,” another argued. “Too much injections, fillers, Botox and whatever guck she’s had injected in that face.”
“So relatable.” Victoria’s fans applauded her openness and vulnerability
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