Liv Tyler reveals David Beckham and her fiancé Dave Gardner force her to constantly watch football
HOLLYWOOD A-lister Liv Tyler has told how David Beckham and her fiancé force her to watch endless amounts of football.
The actress, who has been dating Becks’ best pal Dave Gardner for five years, revealed the former England captain has even taken her to matches and introduced her to big names of the game — but says: “I still don’t get it.”
Today, she reveals she balances out the “blokey” chat brought to the house by Becks by making her fiancé take piano lessons.
In an exclusive interview, US-born Liv, 42, reveals: “I do talk to David Beckham about football. My partner knows David well so football is on in our house all the time.
“It’s interesting how tribal it is with all the chants, but I don’t really understand what is going on, except that they run around a lot. They’re constantly running. They must be out of breath.
“I want to care more about football but it’s alien to me, so unfamiliar, the sound of the chanting and this roar, the crowd.
“I’ve been to lots of games with David and he’s told me loads of football stories and introduced me to some amazingly talented players, although I sometimes don’t know who they are.
“My partner lives for football and his family and all his friends love it. For me it’s so different to watching American football, I just don’t get it.”
Here, Liv, who is starring next to Brad Pitt in acclaimed new movie Ad Astra, opens up for the first time on her love for life in “small town” London, her difficult relationship with her mum and how she sees being a parent as the most important job in the world.
And she admits she is still struggling with the challenges of being a football widow — something many women without her Holly-wood background will relate to.
Dave even took his fiancé to a Champions League game on Valentine’s Day two years ago, explaining: “I told my beautiful wife-to-be that I was taking her to see two of the most romantic cities ever . . . Paris and Barcelona. So now we are at the match watching PSG v Barcelona. Best Valentine’s ever.”
In our exclusive chat, Liv claims she hits back by making him and his oldest son follow her passions for the rest of the week.
She says: “They do a lot of football on the weekends then we do a lot of music playing, piano lessons. They love it so much. And I love that they love it.” Liv is the daughter of Aerosmith wildman Steve Tyler, and she carved out an illustrious acting career before settling in Britain three years ago.
Today, she is considered one of Hollywood’s biggest stars — a term she rejects — and the mum-of-three is set to help smash box office records again as she plays Brad Pitt’s wife in the astronaut movie, which is in cinemas now.
Life took an unexpected turn in 2014 when she was introduced to Becks’ best friend and business partner Dave, 43, by their mutual friend, supermodel Kate Moss.
Kate felt Liv would have an instant connection with the former football super-agent. That proved to be an understatement, as they got engaged within a year.
The couple now have two children together, son Sailor Gene, four, and daughter Lula Rose, three.
Liv also has 14-year-old Milo from her first marriage to rocker Royston Langdon and Dave has 11-year-old son Grey from his seven-year marriage to former Hollyoaks actress Davinia Taylor, 41.
They insist they are in no rush to get married, with Liv saying: “I love being engaged, but I don’t really have a desire to get married.”
This is despite referring to him as her “husband” in interviews.
This year the couple bought a ten-bedroom, £8.5million mansion in South West London, a move that has taken them further away and Becks, 44, and wife Victoria, 45, their former neighbours in Notting Hill, West London.
The former England captain has known Dave since they were kids playing for Manchester United.
‘I’M NOT A STAR’
He became Becks’ agent after he was dropped from the youth team, forcing him to realise he would not reach the same levels as his friend.
The pair are so tight that Becks is godfather to their children.
Liv says: “Dave and David work together, so they see each other every day.”
Of Becks she says: “He gives very good presents. He’s a gentleman. He loves being a father. He’s a very elegant person, so very sweet.”
Despite being forced to watch never-ending rounds of Premier League football, Liv feels much happier living in the UK.
She says: “I’m not a Hollywood star and I struggle with fame.
“I’ve never lived in Hollywood. I grew up in Maine and New York and now live in London.
“Britain feels like much more of a small town to me. There’s an emphasis on family and pleasure in life that is different.
“People love their weekends. They love their time together. They love their dogs. I love the nature here.
“It’s so beautiful, the parks and the countryside and the history. It seems so vast. I do miss things about New York but after a week, I can’t wait to come back.”
Liv was nine and living in Harlem, New York, when she met Steve Tyler for the first time and felt in her heart the rocker, now 71, was her real father.
Until then, she believed mum Bebe Buell’s long-term musician partner Todd Rundgren was her dad.
But confronted by her daughter, ex-Playboy model Bebe, now 66, confessed Liv was the result of a fling.
Liv struggles to connect with her mother as a result.
She explains: “I’ve always been a positive person and, despite my relationship with my mother probably being the most challenging thing in my life, I have a great love and appreciation for her.”
On growing up, she says: “I’ve worked very hard on myself not to be a f**k-up. My childhood wasn’t simple.
“I didn’t know my birth father until I was nine, so there were many different family members around. But I had a tremendous amount of love.
“I was an overly responsible kid though, as I had to survive.
“I moved around a lot by family dynamics which were beautiful but weird. ‘Weird’ is the wrong word. Eccentric.
“I’ve worked hard on feeling good, addressing and dealing with the things that affect you that come up from your childhood and not passing them on to your own children.”
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She adds: “I always wanted to be a mother. I remember being six and knowing I wanted to be a mum.
“I’ve always been mothering everyone. I had cats growing up and lots of stuffed animals and I would always put everyone to bed at night.
“I got pregnant with Milo at 26, so I’ve spent more of my adult life being a mum than not. Motherhood is the most important thing in the world.”
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