David Beckham was minding his own business, working out on a machine in the SoulCycle gym in Los Angeles recently. Suddenly a queue of people turned up at his station, calling out for an autograph. The only problem was, they wanted Ricky Gervais’ autograph, not David Beckham’s.
Bear in mind they both do have an English accent and a beard and they both do have a fondness for wearing a baseball cap, track suit and sun glasses on occasion, but there the resemblance ends.
As reported in the Irish Daily Star, for one thing Beckham is a mere 40 years old, while Gervais, he of the popular series “The Office,” is 54. Gervais stands at a petite 5ft 8ins while Beckham is four inches taller. Gervais does, admittedly, have a pretty trim physique, but Beckham is well-toned, muscular, and is liberally sprinkled with tats.
Reportedly someone overheard Beckham speaking to a trainer in the gym and heard his English accent. Therein lay the main problem.
Apparently David Beckham was all smiles for the first couple people in the queue. In fact, he is a celebrity in his own right and is used to fans asking for his autograph and wanting tales of his experiences with Manchester United in the past and plans for his own team in Miami, Florida.
According to Joe.co.uk, Beckham was a little confused when they congratulated him on being named host of the Golden Globes award ceremony in January for the fourth time. However, according to an onlooker in the gym, when the teeming hordes started coming out with sayings like “Hey, Ricky” or “Would you mind signing this, Ricky?” he got really angry.
The onlooker added that it soon became clear that Beckham was not happy to be mistaken for a guy who is firstly much older than him and also “with the best will in the world, will never be in the same sort of physical shape.”
Reportedly Beckham’s face went a deep red and his expression got increasingly angry as he stormed his way out of the gym, only to find another crowd of “fans” waiting for him outside. Beckham got into his car and apparently roared his way out of the parking lot.
The Express said that spokesmen for both Beckham and Gervais had been contacted, but that neither party was prepared to comment on the embarrassing incident.
