He was so trusted by the Beckhams that when their eldest son Brooklyn married billionaire heiress Nicola Peltz, DJ Fat Tony was whisked in to play for the late-night post-wedding party.
The prestigious role, of course, meant that he had a front row seat for the now-famous dance between the groom and his mother, Victoria, which is at the heart of the long-running and increasingly vicious Beckham family rift.
When Brooklyn, now 27, posted his candid Instagram statement in January, he accused his once-beloved mum of ‘hijacking’ his first dance and of dancing ‘inappropriately on him’. The wannabe chef also claimed that he had ‘never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated’ in his life when pop star Marc Anthony, who was performing at the reception ahead of the afterparty, called Posh to the stage ahead of what was expected to be his first dance with his new wife.
Brooklyn’s accusations prompted a frenzy of finger-pointing, while a devastated Victoria protested her innocence.
So when producers at ITV’s This Morning offered Fat Tony, also a friend of the infamous Primrose Hill set including Kate Moss and loo roll heiress Davinia Taylor, a place on their sofa in January to share what he saw that night, he jumped at the chance.
Fat Tony’s decision to speak on the family drama has long been a mystery. But those close to him have told me it may have been prompted by David and Victoria’s choice to hire the ‘more trendy’ DJ duo Hale Zero to play at recent events instead of him. And, it’s fair to say, he didn’t hold back.
During his interview with hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, Tony said: ‘Victoria is by the stage, she goes on to the stage, and of course at that point Brooklyn is suddenly, literally, devastated because he thought he was going to do his first dance with his wife.
‘Then Nicola leaves the room, crying her eyes out. Brooklyn is stuck there on stage.
DJ Fat Tony on ITV’s This Morning in January this year, where he gave his account of the now-infamous wedding dance between Victoria and Brooklyn
Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz are estranged from the Beckhams following the long-running feud
‘And then they do this dance and Marc Anthony’s going, “Put your hands on your mother’s hips”. It was a Latin thing.
‘The whole situation was very awkward for everyone in the room.’
At the time, friends of the Beckhams were furious that Tony – real name Tony Marnach – appeared to have chosen Brooklyn’s side in the feud.
One said: ‘It was jaw-dropping that he did that, why get involved and stir the pot?
‘Surely Fat Tony gets asked to play these events because he can be relied upon to be discreet. His other showbiz friends might be surprised he’s wading in on a family’s issues. It’s flabbergasting.’
Clearly, Tony was well aware of Victoria and David’s fury. For this week, he made an audacious attempt to fix relations with the Beckhams. In an interview with a celebrity magazine, he accused ITV of ‘dragging’ him into the row.
He said: ‘It’s always sad when there’s a rift in any family. It just so happened that I got dragged into one. I went on [This Morning] to change a narrative of the word “inappropriate” and where it was going for Victoria, where it was going for Brooklyn. It was not a nice situation.’
Fat Tony continued to flatter the Beckhams by saying: ‘[The Beckham family] are incredible and David and Victoria brought up those kids impeccably.’
A source claims David and Victoria are ‘furious’ with Fat Tony over his decision to seemingly side with their eldest son
His comments were indeed noticed by those in the Beckham circles – and I can reveal it has prompted even more anger from friends of David and Victoria.
‘Fat Tony was seen as one of the main witnesses against Victoria at the wedding and very pro-Brooklyn and Nicola. Now look at how he’s changed his tune,’ says one pal.
‘The Beckhams are furious at all of this. Why on earth go on and slag them off? They were always close to Tony. He was their go-to DJ, but when they went with Hale Zero, that changed.
‘There is so much hurt and sorrow wrapped up in the fallout with Brooklyn. For someone to stir it up the way [Fat Tony] did was awful. And now he’s come out and praised them profusely. It’s baffling.’
In interviews since that bombshell This Morning appearance, I’m told Fat Tony has attempted to deflect questions surrounding the Beckham family and now jokes that it’s all that interviewers want to talk about.
In his magazine feature, Fat Tony made sure to mention that he was close to Brooklyn and Nicola, who married in April 2022 at her father’s £72million home on Palm Beach, Florida.
His latest comments may have come as a blow to the young couple, who are now completely estranged from David and Victoria and their wider family, including Brooklyn’s once beloved grandparents Ted and Sandra Beckham and Jackie and Tony Adams.
They have been at war with the Beckhams since April last year, when they snubbed all of David’s 50th birthday celebrations – despite jetting into London from Beverly Hills when the celebrations were ongoing.
‘Fat Tony’s testimony was a huge help in backing Brooklyn up in January,’ says a source familiar with the rift. ‘He was the only witness to go on the record and say what he saw.
‘He unequivocally said that it was an awkward moment, which then ramped up the idea that Victoria was dancing inappropriately. It was so helpful for the Brooklyn narrative.
‘This U-turn doesn’t help him.’
‘Right now there’s no chance of a family reconciliation,’ says my source. ‘David and Victoria have accepted that Brooklyn doesn’t want a relationship with them.
‘But what’s sad is someone like Tony having to jump in.’
One thing’s for sure, he won’t be asked back to DJ by the Beckhams anytime soon.
