David Beckham found himself on the end of a masterful prank recently when the ex-LA Galaxy star returned to his old stomping ground for the unveiling of a statue in his honour.
Unbeknown to Beckham, the exclusive reveal had been hijacked by his friend James Corden, host of “The Late Late Show” on American TV, whose props team built an altogether less flattering version of the actual sculpture.
.@JKCorden & the @latelateshow pranked David Beckham.
It is absolutely must-watch đ â https://t.co/Ck34iQ4A1b#BeckhamStatue pic.twitter.com/UjBpgReSsc
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 12, 2019
Unaware that he was being pranked, Beckham did remarkably well to keep his cool as the artist took him through the finer details of the purposefully awful mock statue, although he did let his feelings slip on more than one occasion.
“Look at my bum; it definitely doesn’t look like that,” the former England captain remarked at one point, adding: “It doesn’t really look anything like me, though; look at my eyes,”
when u order something online vs when it arrives đ pic.twitter.com/ZSBc9mQ6o1
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) March 12, 2019
With Galaxy president Chris Klein doing an impressive turn as an actor and Cordon almost laughing himself to tears as he watched and listened from an adjacent room, Beckham eventually asked for the cameras to be turned off, saying: “If my kids were to see this, I think they’d just cry, to be honest.”
But as the football legend talked about how “embarrassing” the situation was, a forklift “accident” saw the impersonating statue meet an untimely end.
And soon after Beckham admitted “you’ve probably done me a favour there,” the ecstatic Corden burst out to end his mate’s misery.
The full-length “Late Late Show” segment is available to view here if you so wish. And, of course, a relieved Beckham was all smiles when the actual statue was unveiled.
