I apologised to Olympic boxing hero’s mum after David Beckham mistakenly said she’d died live on TV, reveals Gabby Logan
GABBY LOGAN has opened up on a disastrous on-air blunder – that led to David Beckham claiming a boxer’s wife and sister had died in a car crash.
The BBC presenter was joined by Golden Balls to review the final day of competition at the 2012 London Olympics.
Beckham had been a brand ambassador for the Games, with Team GB racking up record medal hauls.
But information he was told by Logan before the recording about boxer Luke Campbell’s family turned out to be wildly inaccurate.
Logan revealed the toe-curling exchange during an appearance on hit podcast Sporting Misadventures with Sir Chris Hoy.
Asked if she’d had any on-air disasters, the Beeb presenter took us way back 13 years.
She explained: “It was the final day of the Olympics – that day when you just lose track of everything that is going on.
“There was a bit of boxing and [me and Beckham] were chatting through this VT [before going on air].
“I said to David, ‘It’s really tragic, this boxer, his mum and sister died this year in a car accident’.
“We were going to move on [when live on air] and not talk about boxing at all.
“But David decided to bring that news to the public.”
Logan revealed the show continued as normal before her producer told her to “go back into the studio”.
She continued: “I thought they’d got cake! Or champagne for the last day.
“We go back in and I see the Olympic flame is still burning, I realised we’re still on air.
“In my ear they said, ‘Luke Campbell’s mum and sister didn’t die in a car accident’.
“I’m sitting on the sofa, out of vision, thinking ‘Oh my God’.”
Logan announced live that “erroneous information” had reached the studio and “Luke Campbell’s mum and sister are alive and well”.
What do David Beckham’s tattoos mean?
Hands
Starting with the hands, and David Beckham has the word “Love” inked across the top of his left hand, with a swallow on either side.
This is joined by the numbers 723, a combination of the shirts he famously wore for Manchester United and later Real Madrid.
On his little finger, he has the year he was married.
Becks also has a small female-stick figure designed by his daughter Harper.
The devoted husband has “Posh” tattooed on a finger as a nod to wife Victoria Beckham‘s Spice Girls nickname.
Arms
Becks has two sleeve tattoos on both his arms with the centrepieces paying tribute to his marriage to Victoria.
The most famous of his body art comes in the shape of her name along the inside of his forearm, which is inked in Sanskrit.
Both Posh and Becks have Hebrew tattoos, which they got to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary.
The matching tatts translate to, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”.
Meanwhile, Becks also has a separate rose inking on his left arm to mark the couple’s tenth anniversary.
Neck
One of Beckham’s most famous tattoos is on his neck, which is a gothic style cross and wings.
It is symbolic of to his religion and acts as a protective guardian of his son Romeo, whose name is tattooed just below the angel wings.
Beckham also has the name of his daughter, Harper, on the side of his neck.
This was later updated to include the words “Pretty Lady”, to mark her fourth birthday.
Back
Beckham’s back tattoos serve as tribute to his sons.
He has angel wings at the top as a sign of protection for them.
Becks has both his eldest on Brooklyn, and his youngest son Cruz‘s names inked across his back.
Body
Beckham has a large chest tattoo that is an image of himself as Jesus, with three cherubs representing his sons, Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz.
The footy ace also has a vertical tattoo down his left side in Chinese symbols – this translates as “Death and life have determined appointments”.
Paying homage to his father, he has an inking of a ship at full mast – which is identical to the same one his dad has.
Hoy gasped in response to the story: “Oh wow.”
Logan added: “David Beckham was walking down the corridor asking, ‘So who died? Did anybody die?”
Hoy laughed that Beckham had “really dropped” Logan in it.
The Beeb presenter called Campbell’s mum the next morning to apologise.
She added: “It was hilarious, she was brilliant about it all.”
Explaining the error, Logan said: “What had happened was we had this amazing office.
“It had banks and banks of monitors.
Beckham was walking down the corridor asking, ‘So who died? Did anybody die?”
Gabby Logan
“We were livestreaming all sports at once. There was so much going on.
“There was a boxing match going on and it was Luke Campbell, he was going to win gold.
“There was another guy – the subs guy who does the stats – and he was sat on a different monitor behind me.
“He was going ‘This guy is amazing, his mum and sister died in a car accident this year’.
“And he was watching someone completely different.”
Bantamweight star Campbell clinched gold for Team GB at the London Olympics, beating Satoshi Shimizu in the final.
He turned pro in July 2013, going on to win 20 of his 24 fights, with 16 by KO.
