Can the Peltz-Beckhams make a brand of their own?

0:02Sky News, the full story first.

0:09Coming up, she's the actress slash billionaire aris wife of Brooklyn Beckham at the heart of his falling out with parents David and Victoria. So who is Nicola Peltz?

0:23When you marry into a family where image is everything, the brand tends to come before the benefit of the doubt. Today is Valentine's Day and I am making my wife's favourite dish. She's going to help me in the kitchen. We have cheese, angel hair pasta, which is the best kind, buttercream... That's Nicola Peltz and her husband, Brooklyn Beckham. Since they wed, she's become a familiar character in a story about weddings, wealth, power and control. Because when your surname is Beckham, family rows rarely stay private for long. Brooklyn posted a statement on Instagram that was deeply emotional and unmistakably pointed.

0:59All contact between the couple and his parents was done. Not a hint of any potential reconciliation. His life is now his wife. An actor, a billionaire heiress, and depending on which corner of the internet you frequent, either a supportive partner or the woman who detonated Britain's most lucrative family brand from the inside. So what do we know about her background, her power, her relationship with the Beckham brand? How much of this saga is about family tension and how much is about who gets to write the Beckham narrative next. Here to pull back the curtain, Amy Denman, TV and Showbiz editor at the Daily Mirror.

1:37Amy, great to have you on the Sky News Daily. Let's talk Nicola Peltz. It is fair to say, isn't it, she comes from a bit of money. I think a bit, Neil, is playing it down slightly. She was born in and grew up in Westchester in New York, which is one of the wealthiest counties of the US. The property that she grew up in is massive, 130 acres, I believe. There was an ice hockey rink in the basement, because we know the Pelts is a big ice hockey fan, should I say. A helipad for their fleet of helicopters. And to top it off, a couple of private jets, of course. The standard upbringing. I mean, where did all this money come from?

2:16Nicola is one of eight children, and her mother was a very successful model. She worked with the likes of Calvin Klein. The money mainly comes, of course, from Nelson. He actually joined his grandfather's food distribution business at a young age. And alongside his brother, they turned it into kind of a multimillion dollar business. He is now estimated to have a fortune, I think according to Forbes, 1.6 billion. We're talking big bucks. I mean, ice rink in the basement, I understand that they have albino peacocks running around in the grounds. I mean, clearly it was a rarefied upbringing. So when did we first start hearing about Nicola?

2:59Nicola, to be fair to her, has had her own acting career in her own right from a very young age. She found her passion for acting when she was a child. She went to her parents and told them about this, who initially weren't particularly supportive. They wanted her to pursue ice hockey and things like that. But her mum turned around and said, I'll take you to an agent and we'll see how it goes. And she landed her first role on stage very, very young. It's just kind of gone on from there. I mean, she's been in music videos with Miley Cyrus, Zayn Malik. And of course, she's had film roles. Before she met Brooklyn, she was in the fourth Transformers movie in the starring role.

3:39However, I would say in terms of the press and tabloids, She wasn't someone that we were on top of before she started dating Brooklyn. She had the money and fair to say she had a fairly decent acting career. But the fame, that really skyrocketed in 2020 when her and Brooklyn started dating. So certainly not an A-lister by any description, but known to some in the showbiz world. You mentioned, of course, the meeting of minds that must have taken place. I mean, how did Nicola and Brooklyn finally get together? Initially, they met in 2017 at Coachella through one of Nicola's brothers, but they didn't really hit it off at first.

4:16They both were in relationships. They actually met at an A-list party in 2019. They were at Leonardo DiCaprio's Halloween party. I mean, of all places to start a love story in the showbiz world, I think that is one. And then things are just sparked from there. They were spotted out for dinner together a couple of weeks later, and obviously whispers started to grow that they were romantically involved. And it did develop, didn't it, into what at first glance at least appears to be a very deep love. I mean, they've both spoken over the years of their relationship about just how close they are. I think that the COVID pandemic, of course, had a part to play in that.

4:57They kind of went Instagram official in January 2020 and then come the lockdowns, Brooklyn decides to jet over to New York on the last available plane and spend the lockdown with Nicola in New York. And they were engaged within a few months. And of course, the engagement turned into a wedding, which at least at the time was reported to be one of those showbiz occasions that everyone would have wanted to be at. I remember when the engagement photo first came out and people were going crazy for it. It was a truly beautiful, picturesque announcement. Him declaring that he will be the best husband ever.

5:35her in this beautiful white dress them sharing this really romantic kiss and then we had a two year wait for the wedding but excitement was still there it was still brewing everyone wanted to know who was on the guest list where will it be they tied the knot in the pelts family estate in palm beach florida it was a massive affair with 500 guests of course a few celebrity names to go with that mel c being one eva longoria who we know is a good friend of victoria's was there but one part of it that I think was really sweet is at the time it was a family affair. David made a speech, gushed about the couple and about how amazing of a mum Victoria is and Harper was flower girl.

6:17So it really did seem at the time that they were united. Things have changed somewhat though, haven't they? I mean, we could spend months literally drawing over the coals of what happened between the wedding and that bombshell Insta announcement, but let's just focus on that. I mean, when you read that six page statement from Brooklyn Beckham, what did you think? I felt for Victoria in that moment and David, even though they are in the public eye, they are very particular with the details they share with the public and the details that they don't. They are very much of the kind of don't complain, don't explain mentality, whereas Brooklyn has really stepped outside of that.

6:56But then equally on his side, there were a lot of comments on Instagram in the weeks coming up to his statement on his posts and Nicola's posts, having a go at them and demanding why they don't reconcile with the Beckhams. And obviously he has felt silenced and he comes from a different generation to his parents, of course, and he chose to speak out. There are a litany of allegations made by Brooklyn and Nicola in this statement. Let's deal with a couple of them. What do we know of the dance that took place at the wedding? Because reading Brooklyn Beckham's statement, it sounds like his new wife is staring on aghast as his mother bumps and grinds against him in front of 500 assembled guests.

7:38The word inappropriate is very strong, but it's equally up for interpretation. What one person deems is inappropriate, another might not. So did he mean inappropriate in the sense that she stepped out of her role? or did he mean inappropriate in a physical sense? There have been some guests that have spoken out and yes, they have also backed up the term that it was inappropriate, but equally there was a guest that has told us that essentially there was no bumping and grinding. It wasn't like that. What we do know, though, Amy, is that there was a problem when it came to the dress because, you know, Victoria does do a thing or two when it comes to clothing.

8:14I would have thought she would have been the natural choice to dress her future daughter-in-law. Absolutely. And when the interview with Brooklyn and Nicola about their wedding came out in Vogue, that was the question on everyone's lips. Why was it a Valentino custom gown? Why wasn't it a Victoria Beckham gown? However, I would like to point out, though, there has been contradictions between what Brooklyn said in that statement and what has been reported on and what they said in that Vogue interview as well. They said that the custom Valentino gown was in talks for a year. but then Brooklyn has turned around and said that Victoria pulled out of making and designing the dress at the 11th hour it doesn't quite measure up does it let's be honest I think it's very easy to paint Victoria as this monster-in-law it does have its misogynistic undertones as well and it is a shame that at the centre of this are two powerful women in their own right to pit two women against each other in 2026 is a little bit sad.

9:18The central accusation from Brooklyn was that his parents controlled him, in essence monetised his childhood and took away his trademark, his brand name. I suppose it's ironic then that there are a number of people who accuse Nicola Peltz of being fame hungry, of chasing fame, of doing exactly that through her marriage with Brooklyn, all you need to do is look underneath any Instagram post she's made over the past couple of weeks. I mean, Brooklyn Beckham is not her first high-profile relationship, is it? She was with Anwar Hadid. He's the brother of Gigi and Bella Hadid, the models, yeah. That's correct.

9:54And as I say, she had a career in her own right beforehand. She had celebrity links. They met at a celebrity party. So clearly there is a desire there to be in those circles. But I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that she's using Brooklyn as a pawn within that. Everything is so carefully curated amongst Gen Z when it comes to their social media. So I'm not sure that we ever get a true vision of who an individual is, if that is the only prism through which you view them. So this question may be slightly unfair, but I mean, how do you think Nicola Peltz is perceived more generally? I think she's misunderstood, to be perfectly honest with you.

10:34I think that because such little is known about her in comparison to the rest of the players in this feud. People are taking up narratives that suit them best. I do mean the general public in that. She is just a young 31-year-old woman who has an acting career and happens to have fallen in love with the son of one of the most famous couples in the world. Plenty of people will point to the power of the Beckhams PR machine. But, you know, Nicola Peltz is not short of an influential and powerful supporter or two. And I'm thinking very much of her mum and dad. Have we seen them getting involved in this fractious relationship, this war developing between the two separate houses?

11:20Absolutely. I mean, well, in terms of their involvement, I think it's been much more subtle and in the background. What we do know is that the Peltses have a history of getting lawyers involved. And in this feud, lawyers have been involved. Where do we think this goes? Because we haven't really heard anything, have we, from the Beckhams directly? That was the initial thing. I'm sure we all had our notifications on Victoria and David's Instagram to see if they were going to post a rebuttal. But they didn't. And no, I don't think they will. Brand Beckham has very much shown this week that it's business as usual, isn't it?

11:58David has been out and about as planned. Victoria, she took a couple of days off of Instagram and then returned yesterday making a post about Emma Bunsen wishing her a happy 50th birthday before continuing to post as she normally does about her fashion brand and her beauty brand and so on. And then on top of that, they've continued to support their family as well. This week, Cruise announced his debut show with his band and it sold out within minutes. So will it fit their purpose to say anything? And look at them, you know, David was knighted last year. One of the biggest achievements that you can have.

12:35So it doesn't suit them, their family or their brand to say anything. Amy, can I begin to wrap this up by being deeply cynical and say that perhaps from Brooklyn and Nicola's point of view, this is as much about brand as it will be on the other side of the equation. We've talked, of course, about how tightly intertwined Nicola and Brooklyn's vision of themselves that they project to the world is. If they are going to have brand, Brooklyn and Nicola, don't they need to bring themselves away from the Beckhams? Don't they need some distance for that brand to work? When they took on the surname change of Peltzbeckham, That was a kind of sign at the time that they are a new generation of Beckhams And what they decide to do within that is their prerogative I think you would be right to be slightly cynical But we've all got to make money at the end of the day And Brooklyn has tried other ways, you know So is that it then?

13:35Now that we've heard from Brooklyn We won't be hearing from either of them again for the next year Or should we hold fast for more bombshell revelations Coming from either Nicola or Brooklyn? They were laying low this week, weren't they? Then the pat pics kind of emerged yesterday of them taking a stroll on the beach, which kind of shows they're not media shy, are they? In the weeks leading up to this bombshell statement, she was announced to be taking part in a movie called Prima. We've seen her drastically losing weight for that because it's a role where she undertakes the role of a ballerina.

14:06And acting alongside Faye Dunaway, no less. I mean, it might well be an independent picture, but that is a big name and she is alongside it. We need to remember though, this isn't the first movie role that she's had where she's appeared alongside big names. Her debut movie, she was appearing alongside Danny DeVito. And in the rough and tumble world of Hollywood, where celebrity gossip is traded very, very quickly, she will do well out of having her name front and centre in terms of news coverage, just in and of itself. Oh, absolutely. she is probably one of the top trending names on Google across the world this week for certain and that is something that I'm sure movie producers and stuff will be looking at when they're looking to cast for roles it would also be fair to say if she does attend events she'll be one of the most called after names on the red carpet everyone will want time with her and that would be a wasted opportunity if she wasn't to do anything with that My thanks to Amy and of course to you for listening Much, much more on the Beckham saga available over on the website skynews.com.

15:10That's your lot for the podcast for this week. Do take care.