Vic: Becks said he loved me, Australian model

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2004
Vic: Becks said he loved me, Australian model

By AAP Correspondents

MELBOURNE, April 13 AAP - An Australian model at the centre of a sex scandal involving
David Beckham put her life on hold for two years because the soccer star said he loved
her.

Melbourne-based model Sarah Marbeck, 29, claimed in Britain's News of the World to
have had an affair with the Real Madrid player for up to two years, during which they
had exchanged hundreds of steamy text messages.

In a statement released today by her lawyer Melbourne-based Michael Brereton, Ms Marbeck
said she had put her life on hold to wait for Beckham.

"In response to many questions about my motives, the reason I decided to go public
with details of my relationship with David Beckham is because for two years my life was
on hold while I waited for him," she said in the statement.

"He said he loved me and I slept with the phone by my bed waiting for it to ring.

"Finally, I accepted that my relationship with Beckham was over and I decided to move
forward with my life."

Ms Marbeck, who is in hiding at the luxurious Sheraton Mirage Resort in Port Douglas,
denied she was a "celebrity seeker" and said she had accepted that her relationship with
Beckham was over.

"I am not a celebrity seeker, and I am not interested in extra fame, but I have found
myself at the centre of a media storm, and I am shocked by the intense level of public
interest in my life," she said.

She was seen eating a lunch of pizza and salad beside the pool at the plush resort
yesterday with what appeared to be two bodyguards, according to freelance reporter and
columnist Peter Ford.

Mr Ford said he was on holiday when he spotted the woman, who is being hunted by the
world's media following claims she had affair with Beckham after a chance encounter in
2001.

A tourism source in Port Douglas confirmed today Ms Marbeck was staying at the Sheraton
Mirage Resort.

The resort's front desk said they did not have a guest under the name of Sarah Marbeck.

Ms Marbeck is the second woman to claim an affair with Beckham after his personal assistant
Rebecca Loos went public.

Beckham and his wife Victoria have now taken legal advice over newspaper reports that
he had extramarital affairs.

And in a statement yesterday the celebrity couple dismissed the stories and said they
would not be commenting about them at this time.

The Beckhams made a show of unity last night, travelling to London from their Hertfordshire
home - dubbed "Beckingham Palace" by the media - for dinner at the exclusive Claridges
restaurant.

After three hours at the celebrity hotspot, the pair emerged smiling before a horde
of waiting photographers and journalists.

Meanwhile, Ms Marbeck also apologised to her family for any hurt or embarrassment she
may have caused them. The media had been camped outside her parents' Perth home.

"I intend to remain in Australia now and I want to thank my family for their support
on this matter and for them to know that I love them, and appreciate all that they have
done and continue to do for me," she said.

The Malaysian-born model is signed with a Perth modelling agency, Vivien's Modelling
Management, but has not done any work for them for a while.

AAP bw/was/jlw/mo

KEYWORD: UK BECKHAM AUST NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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