Victoria Beckham became "very good at lying" amid her battle with an eating disorder

In her eponymous Netflix documentary, Victoria shares: "When you have an eating disorder you become very good at lying and I was never honest about it with my parents.

"I never talked about it publicly. It really affects you when you're being told constantly that you're not good enough and I suppose that's been with me my whole life."

Victoria's issues with her weight date back to her time at theatre school, when she was accused of being "fat".

Victoria's dad, Tony, recalled: "Obviously it would upset her."

Meanwhile, a friend of Victoria has suggested that she wants to help other women "experiencing similar problems".

Her pal told The Sun newspaper: "Victoria wanted to be honest and upfront in this documentary - she didn't want to shy away from a subject she knows still, to this day, obsesses people.

"In her younger years, before she found the gym and true happiness with her career and family, she was incredibly rigid with her food, and borderline anorexic.

"She largely replaced solid food with liquids and would also run quite obsessively.

"She was also told to lose weight by Spice Girls management and that saw her spiral - she would binge-eat cereal and make herself ill.

"She was so badly hurt by all the nasty things being said about her, and like so many women, tried to reclaim control by what went in and out of her body.

"Her decision to speak about it now shows just how far she has come - she's an incredible role model to both her kids and women generally.

"Victoria hopes that by being honest with her difficulties, she can help others experiencing similar problems.

"Doing this documentary has, in many ways, been like therapy for her.

"There is no self-pity, she doesn't blame anyone else for her problems, and she shows that hard work leads to success."