The trouble with Victoria’s toes
Pictures of Victoria Beckham in a foot brace have prompted speculation she’s had surgery to remove the painful bunions that have plagued her for years
SHE’S one of the most glamorous and photographed women on the planet, always flawlessly put together from her fabulous sunnies to her skyscraper stilettos.
But behind Victoria Beckham’s ultra-fashionable façade lies a secret torment
A painful condition has been coming between the English fashion designer and her beloved lofty Louboutins for years – and her fashion-scarred feet are saying enough is enough.
The 43-year-old mom of four was recently spotted out in London wearing a decidedly frumpy foot brace – although the toes on her other foot were stylishly encased in a cute little kitten heel.
The sighting sparked a frenzy among her fans, who immediately took to social media to send words of support.
One fan wrote on Instagram: “@victoriabeckham, get better soon so you can get your heels back on, babes!”
Speculation soared about how she’d hurt herself. Some wondered if she’d fallen during her family’s recent skiing trip in Canada while others asked if she’d undergone secret foot surgery for bunions that have been bugging her for years.
Victoria took to Instagram to address the rumours, saying she’d suffered a “small stress fracture that needs time to rest”.
She accompanied her caption with a photo of herself at home with a pair of crutches and clad in a T-shirt with the words, “It’s a dark but happy place.”
Observers say it’s unlikely her injury happened on the Beckhams’ break as she shunned the slopes while her husband, David (42), sons Brooklyn (19), Romeo (15) and Cruz (13), and daughter Harper (6), whizzed around on them, opting instead to stroll around the town of Whistler with her dad, Anthony Adams.
She chose flat black boots for her dad-and-daughter walk, which could be a sign she was indeed suffering from foot pain.
On the family’s return to the UK there was no sign of a foot brace. If she’d suffered a stress fracture on holiday, wouldn’t she be in a boot when she stepped off the plane?
FOR more than a decade Victoria has battled painful bunions – a condition where the bony joint on the big toe becomes inflamed and tender. It can lead to the joint sticking out at right angles to the foot. Wearing tight shoes or high heels can worsen the condition. A towering heel throws the wearer’s weight forward onto the front of the foot, adding pinching pressure on the big toe joint.
At 1,63m Victoria likes the extra height and posture heels afford her – and she’s willing to suffer for it.
She’s previously expressed her disgust at wearing flats. “I beyond hate ballerina flats. I can’t walk in them. Unless they’re on a ballet dancer doing ballet I just
don’t get it. I love heels.”
A friend once told the Daily Mail that Victoria is often “in agony with her misshapen feet. She suffers from shooting pain from the bunions”.
To combat her discomfort she’s said to do special exercises and wear corrective insoles in some of her shoes.
“Victoria puts up with the pain but the doctor has told her she seriously needs to consider a bunionectomy or ditch the heels,” the friend adds.
“She’s worried it will impact her ability to wear heels and ruin her stylish look.”
A bunionectomy involves cutting into the toe joint then realigning the toe bone and securing it with screws.
“Many women avoid the surgery as it can take months to recover from and can be an extremely painful operation,” explains Jennifer Bailey, founder of Calla Shoes in the UK, a range of stylish shoes created for women with bunions. “They opt to wear comfy shoes that support their bunions day-to-day.”
Bunions can also worsen during pregnancy due to ligaments loosening, so Victoria’s four pregnancies could have made hers worsen faster than they’d have done otherwise.
“If she isn’t willing to give up her heels, surgery could be her only option – but even after that there’s no guarantee she’d be able to wear them again,” Bailey says.
“Many of our customers find their feet aren’t back to normal for years after the operation and others experience failed surgery, with the bunion reoccurring.”
VICTORIA has said she hates her feet, calling them “the most disgusting thing about me”. Wearing stylish heels makes her feel chic, her friends say. But she’s had to make concessions of sorts in recent years.
She was forced to ditch her beloved heels for a while in 2011 after suffering a slipped disc after Harper’s birth.
And in 2016 she told The Telegraph she “can’t do heels when working anymore”, which explains why she’s often spotted in flats at events such as fashion weeks where she works long hours backstage.
In recent years she’s even introduced flat boots and brogues to her fashion collections – perhaps finally realising she might have to reinvent her look in light of her tootsie trouble.
The question is, will her feet be an issue now she and her fellow Spice Girls have announced they’re reforming (sort of)?
While a full reunion tour is unlikely given that the Spices are now busy working mothers, promoters are reportedly offering them millions to perform just a few shows together in the US and UK.
Other ventures in the pipeline for Posh are said to include a global TV talent show to find a new girl group, new merchandise and a children’s Spice TV show possibly featuring the Spice Girls’ kids.
Victoria has also just embarked on a new venture with luxury chocolate brand Pierre Marcolini to create limitededition choccies.
Publicity pics show a sleek black box topped with the Pierre Marcolini and Victoria Beckham logos. Inside are two heart-shaped chocolates covered in gold foil – with nothing saying what’s inside.
If Posh does go under the knife she can always cheer herself up with a choc or two while she’s laid up.
Although she probably won’t. She might suffer from normal-person problems every now and then but she isn’t exactly like us, is she.