Beckham

He's well known for his pristine appearance, but England captain David Beckham has now revealed that he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a debilitating illness which triggers repetitive behaviour and is thought to affect one in 60 people in the UK. Over the last few years, whether you follow the beautiful game or not, you would have been forgiven for thinking that this is David Beckham's world, we're just living in it. But in one of his recent interviews, the captain of the England football team has admitted that he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

In the interview, to be broadcast on ITV1 before the World Cup in Germany this summer, Beckham - nicknamed 'Goldenballs' by his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria - discusses how he has tried to break a cycle of repetitive behaviour, but has been unable to stop.

Beckham, 30, tells interviewer Tim Lovejoy how he constantly cleans and arranges items such as soft drinks, clothes and magazines into straight lines to make "everything perfect".

Beckham said: "I've got this Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs. I'll put my Pepsi cans in the fridge and if there's one too many then I'll put it in another cupboard somewhere.

"I'll go into a hotel room and before I can relax, I have to move all the leaflets and all the books and put them in a drawer. Everything has to be perfect." When asked if he would like to stop the obsessive behaviour, Beckham said: "I would like to. I've tried to and can't stop."

The declaration backs up Mrs Beckham's earlier claim that he is obsessive and that she thinks her husband is a "weirdo". In a separate interview, she said: "He's got that obsessive compulsive thing where everything has to match. If you open our fridge, it's all co-ordinated down either side. We've got three fridges - food in one, salad in another and drinks in the third. In the drinks one, everything is symmetrical. If there's three cans, he'll throw one away because it has to be an even number."

In the interview Beckham also confessed that he enjoys the pain of tattoos and that he's been asked by his wife to stop getting them. Beckham said: "It sounds weird but I actually enjoy the pain. But I wouldn't just go and have something done that doesn't mean anything. It's either to do with my family or something I believe protects my family or myself. Victoria's not keen on me having any more but they are addictive."

While Beckham's current teammates at Spanish club Real Madrid were not aware of his problem, the players he shared a dressing-room with at Manchester United would deliberately move his belongings as a practical joke. Beckham said: "At United, the lads all knew about it. I used to be in my room. There used to be a knock on the door and Scholsie Paul Scholes, Buttie Nicky Butt and Giggsie Ryan Giggs and Gaz Gary Neville and Phil Phil Neville would come in the room and sit down.

"I thought they were just coming in for a chat but they'd go out of the room and I'd think, 'something's different here'. Then all the magazines would be all wonky. They'd have been in my wardrobe and all my trousers and my shoes would be all over the place."