Not so Posh Spice

Victoria Adams can laugh about her nickname

As a member of the chart-topping Spice Girls, Victoria Adams has pouted and posed her way to a multi-million pound dream.

But the woman known to the world as Posh Spice is not quite the sulky snob she would say she seems.

Victoria: Hard work has led to success with the Spice Girls

That she has more than a passing interest in designer labels and the trappings of wealth is undoubtedly there for all to see.

But deep down, she insists, she's just a simple, home-loving girl, who likes nothing better than to stay in with David Beckham and watch TV.

That said, 24-year-old Victoria's beginnings were not so very humble. Of the original five Spice Girls, she comes from the richest home.

Her father, electronics engineer Tony, used to drive her to school in a Rolls-Royce and their house in Hertfordshire boasted a pool.

But Victoria, the eldest of three children, maintains she was very much loved, rather than plain spoilt.

Drive and ambition

Victoria is currently estimated to have a personal wealth of £8m - the result of her own ambition and hard work.

It was tough when drama teachers said at 16 she was either too fat, too ugly or untalented to succeed.

It was also hard finding a niche, before entrepreneurs picked her for the five-girl group which became the Spice Girls.

But Victoria, who asked to take dancing lessons from the age of three, always knew that fame was on the cards.

Such determination is just one indication that there is more to Victoria than the fluffy exterior that meets the eye.

On stage she may look made-up and superficial. But face to face, she's said to appear teenage and fragile - not at all the femme fatale.

But the contrast between the real Victoria and the Posh Spice stage persona is more than skin deep.

Not only is she said to be relaxed and funny, she is reportedly a peacemaker too.

She laughs at being christened Posh Spice by Top of the Pops magazine. After all, she says, she always was a bit of prima donna, even getting up early to preen herself for school.

When morale is low in the group, friends say it is Victoria who raises a laugh. And she was the first of the girls to meet up with Geri Halliwell after she left.

White wedding

But it is her willpower and drive that always seems to win through.

Hours after giving birth to baby Brooklyn she was sitting up, keen as mustard, drinking champagne.

Days later, she was back in her figure-hugging outfits, when many other women would be hiding under a voluminous shroud.

Victoria: Still stylish after Brooklyn's birth

When it comes to David Beckham, just one look at him in a magazine was enough to convince her he would be hers.

And in finally marrying him she will be fulfilling another childhood dream.

Not to marry an extremely rich and famous sportsman, as one might expect of someone nicknamed Posh Spice.

But an altogether more modest ambition - to earn herself a white wedding, surrounded by family and friends.