David Beckham reveals the secret to his long-lasting marriage

"We're a strong family unit."
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

LONDON -- There are many, many famous celebrity couples out there, but you could probably count the ones that have been together for almost 20 years on the fingers of one hand.

On Sunday, David Beckham appeared on an hour-long special of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs show. Along with stories about his childhood and his football career, Beckham spoke about his marriage to Victoria Beckham -- and the reason they've been together for as long as they have.

After talking about the early, secretive days of their relationship -- "we used to sit in a Harvester carpark and we used to just kind of, you know, kiss, of course, and spend time together" -- Beckham was asked why his marriage has been so successful.

"I think because we're a strong family unit," he replied. "We've got strong parents; we were brought up with the right values."

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Of course you make mistakes over the years, and we all know marriage is difficult at times and it's about working through it, and whenever we've come up against tough times, you know, we know each other better than anybody knows us," he added.

Beckham went on to say that they're very respectful of the life they have, but they're also private people.

"People have talked about, you know, 'do we stay together because it's a brand?'" he said. "Of course not.

"We stay together because we love each other; we stay together because we have four amazing children, and do you go through tough times? Of course you go through tough times. It's part of relationships, it's part of marriages, it's part of having children, it's part of having responsibilities."

Topics BBC

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.

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