David and Victoria Beckham, worth $575m, are such bad tippers Elton John calls them the ‘Takums’: Book
David Beckham’s alleged extramarital affairs reached a tipping point when he stiffed a hard working server who told his then-squeeze about her date being a cheapskate.
A waitress handed Beckham’s personal assistant and alleged mistress Rebecca Loos – whom he was romantically tied to while playing soccer for Real Madrid in 2004 – a note for him the day after they had eaten at the Hard Rock Cafe Madrid.
The note said she survived on tips and the athlete, who had just made $27m being transferred to Madrid, had stiffed her by leaving no money, Tom Bower reveals in his new scandal packed book, “House of Beckham: Money, Sex and Power,” which is available in the US on Tuesday.
“After reading the note, Beckham was alarmed,” Bower writes of the soccer star, who was dining with SFX sports agency employees.
“Give her this,’ he said, handing over a thick wodge of euros,” Bower claims in the book.
Seeing Beckham act so poorly was an apparent turning point for Loos, Bower writes, and shortly after she was let go by the SFX agency she decided to sell the story of her alleged affair — which the Beckhams have never acknowledged or denied.
The book also reveals other instances of apparent tightness from the Beckhams, who are worth a combined $575m, according to the 2024 UK Sunday Times Rich List.
David and Victoria once conveniently ‘forgot’ to tip the crew when they were on board Elton John’s yacht — a frugal act that earned them the nickname the “Takums” from the “Tiny Dancer” songwriter.
“Elton would later complain that the ‘Takums’ had forgotten the customary courtesy of tipping the crew. A sum of about $26,733 was expected for one week,” Bower writes.
Bower also reveals on a separate instance, a Beckham staffer once asked for $10 for a taxi — a request which allegedly annoyed the couple.
Posh Spice Victoria also once expensed potato chips during a photo shoot, Bower dishes.
David, meanwhile, had a tendency to be cheap with charity.
During another instance, David allegedly wanted to serve a cheap bottle of warm wine, German Liebfraumilch, which goes for around $3.80 a bottle during a UNICEF fundraiser, Bower writes.
And, separately, David was on a trip to Cambodia with UNICEF when he made the humanitarian organization upgrade him from his five-star hotel to a more luxurious resort and refused to contribute his personal money to help foot the bill.