David Beckham Talks Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Dating Rumors, Says She ‘Deserves to Be Happy’

Speaking to PEOPLE, the retired soccer star offered his advice for the rumored couple as someone in an athlete-popstar relationship

Gabrielle Rockson is a staff writer-reporter for PEOPLE. She joined PEOPLE in 2023 and covers entertainment and human interest stories. Her previous work can be found in OK! Magazine, MyLondon, GRM Daily, and more.

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Soccer legend David Beckham knows what it’s like to be in an athlete-popstar relationship — and wants the best for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the premiere of Beckham, a four-part Netflix documentary, Beckham, 48, says, “There’s a lot of noise around Taylor at the moment,” referring to the media frenzy surrounding the 33-year-old singer’s rumored relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Kelce, also 33.

Beckham continues, “Taylor is an amazing talent and she’s an amazing person, and she deserves to be happy. Whatever she does and whoever she’s with, as long as she’s happy, that’s the most important thing.”

When asked if he had any advice for Swift and Kelce, Beckham offers insight into his marriage with fashion designer and former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham.

The former soccer star says the key to a lasting relationship is finding time for just you and your partner. “It’s the same with me and Victoria. We’ve been together now 26 years, almost three decades. We’ve got amazing kids, we’ve built businesses, but we make time for each other.”

David and Victoria Beckham attend Victoria Beckham and Sotheby’s celebration of Andy Warhol with Don Julio 1942 at her Dover Street store, on September 30, 2019 in London, England. DARREN GERRISH/WIREIMAGE

Beckham adds that he and his wife “respect each other” and both know that “you have to work hard at these things.”

The “Bejeweled” singer and the NFL star have become the talk of the celeb world since Swift attended back-to-back Chiefs games to cheer on Kelce. The pair are “still just getting to know each other,” a source tells PEOPLE, and another insider adds that the pair haven’t yet defined their relationship, saying, “He is a charming guy. It’s more of a hanging out situation than dating.”

 David and Victoria Beckham Reminisce on the Moment They Met: ‘I Just Fancied Her’

In the case of Beckhams, David and Victoria got engaged a year after they met at a soccer match in 1997 and wed on July 4, 1999. The retired athlete and former singer share daughter Harper, 12, and sons Cruz, 18, Romeo, 21, and Brooklyn, 24.

Beckham, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens, hits Netflix on Oct. 4.

The four-part project follows the iconic athlete and Victoria as they offer perspective on how his career and surging popularity affected the family life they were building.

Victoria and David Beckham attends The 2003 MTV Movie Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on May 31, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.KEVIN WINTER/GETTY

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Beckham director Fisher Stevens told PEOPLE recently that he was surprised by how the athlete’s inherent skills — including his attention to detail — translate now in retirement.

 David Beckham Was ‘So Open’ to Telling His Full Life Story for Netflix Doc, Says Director (Exclusive)

“There’s a kind of warmth to him, he listens and he’s warm and he seems to [care] about people a lot,” Stevens said. “He has an incredible aesthetic. He’s not educated, he’s not an intellectual by any means, but there is an innate intelligence to him of how to read people and sort of how to read a room.”