It’s hard to believe there was ever a time before power couple The Beckhams, but Victoria almost ended up with someone else.

The Spice Girls star dumped her first fiancé when she hit the big time with the girl band and things were amicable at first, until she made a brutal remark about him in the press. As she marks her 50th birthday today, the mum-of-four will be surrounded by her loved ones, and no doubt will be enjoying the fruits of her labour over the years by celebrating in style, thanks to their staggering combined fortune of an estimated £360million.

Becks paid tribute to his partner in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing: “Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife… As you head into this birthday you should look back and be proud of what you have accomplished, achieved & what you have built, Posh Spice, businesswoman & of course marrying an England captain.”

Victoria Beckham’s honest five-word response to marriage troubles with husband David

Mark Wood proposed after she won a place in the band ( 
Image:
Mirrorpix)
As well as having four beautiful children, the couple have houses across the globe, their very own super yacht and more showbiz clout than you can possibly imagine. But life could have worked out very differently for Victoria if she’d stayed with her first fiancé, Mark Wood.

The pair met when she was a 14-year-old schoolgirl at St Mary’s High in Cheshunt and he was working for her parents’ electrical company. Mark, a burglar alarm fitter, moved into the family’s luxurious £400,000 home in Goff’s Oak, Hertfordshire, in 1994 and popped the question just after Victoria auditioned for the Spice Girls.

Despite not being married, Posh began calling herself Victoria Adams Wood and the name was even used on early Spice Girls merchandise. But he was left heartbroken when she ended their six-year relationship just as the Spice Girls were taking off. “It wasn’t the right person for me, I wasn’t enjoying myself, so that had to end,” she told Big Breakfast host Denise Van Outen. “But I didn’t give him the ring back either! I’ve still got it because it was a wicked ring. Isn’t that horrible? It makes me sound really materialistic.”

David Beckham and Victoria Adams started dating in 1997

The Beckhams pictured in 2004 ( 
Image:
Daily Mirror)
For Mark, at first he had nothing but nice things to say about his ex, telling The People in 1997, “It was a very special relationship. But that part of my life is over,” he continued. “It’s sad because we were together for a long time. But she’s got what she always wanted and I’m proud of her.”

Then all hell broke loose a decade later when Mark dished on their sex life in a 2004 Channel 5 documentary called Victoria Beckham’s Secrets. He was reportedly furious after she told ITV documentary, Being Victoria, “For some reason we got engaged. He was an alarm engineer. If only he’d stayed in that cupboard that I met him in at my mum’s house.”

And getting his own back, Mark apparently claimed she “went like an express train” and said, “The boobs she’s got now are certainly not the ones she had back then.”

At the time, a Channel 5 spokesman said, “As they always say, revenge is a dish best served cold. Mark has never spoken before in public about his relationship with Victoria but feels it is time to set the record straight. Mark was quite hurt by what she said and doesn’t intend sparing Victoria’s blushes.”