Known for the first portion of her career as "Posh Spice," Victoria Beckham (born Victoria Adams) was in fact raised in the kind of wealthy environment that her nickname implies. Embarrassed to be driven to school in her father's Rolls-Royce, Beckham later attended Lanie Arts, where she studied performance. It was during that time that she answered an ad in The Stage magazine looking for girls who could sing and dance. Beckham, of course, passed the audition and became one of the five Spice Girls, a heavily marketed girl group in which each member had a nickname that corresponded with a specific persona. Beckham was "Posh Spice," while her bandmates were known as "Baby Spice," "Sporty Spice," "Scary Spice," and "Ginger Spice."
The girls became a worldwide phenomenon, and the names and faces of the Spice Girls could be seen on everything from candy to notebook paper. In keeping with her character's luxurious image, Beckham usually appeared in Gucci dresses and the highest of high heels. The group even released a movie, Spice World, which was a hit with their tween audience, but despite being one of the biggest bands of the '90s, they didn't last long after "Ginger Spice," Geri Halliwel, announced that she was leaving the project in 1998. Beckham released a self-titled solo record in 2000 to medium reviews.
In 1997, she started dating celebrated British soccer player David Beckham, and the couple became instant media darlings, followed closely by the press. By 1999, they were married and had their first child, Brooklyn Joseph; in 2002, son Romeo followed, and Cruz, another boy, was born in 2005. Beckham continued to be a fashion icon, dashing around town in the chicest and most daring of clothes, and soon she began working in the fashion world herself, designing a line of clothing for Rock & Republic, as well as her own line. In 2007, David Beckham rather famously left his team Real Madrid and signed on with the L.A. Galaxy for a massive sum of money. This happened to coincide with a Spice Girls reunion, which was announced that same year. The Beckhams decided to move from their native England to L.A., and Bravo opted to document the couple's journey with a reality special, Victoria Beckham: Coming to America. Occasional guest host appearances on popular shows as American Idol and The View followed, and in 2010 she voiced the character of Queen Amphitrite on an episode of Spongebob Squarepants.
