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An ex-girlfriend of Brooklyn Beckham has insisted he did not exaggerate in his bobmshell statement. In it the aspiring chef, who is married to billionaire's daughter Nicola Peltz, said he has no desire to reconcile with his estranged parents David and Victoria Beckham and that they have always been more about their brand than family. Afton McKeith, 25, who is the daughter of I'm A Celebrity star, nutiritionist Gillian McKeith, dated Brooklyn briefly in 2017 and has confirmed some of the pressures he was under having witnessed them first hand. The pair grew up alongside each other in upmarket Kensington, so the actress saw much of the 26-year-old's "anxiety".

Claiming his remarks stem from years of his parents' behaviour rather than recent events, she said: "There are two sides to every story, but I know growing up in the spotlight was challenging for him. He suffered from anxiety. Brooklyn felt as though the world was constantly waiting for him to muck up."

She continued: "I now feel his parents could have protected him more and considered the impact of the public Brand Beckham."

Afton also claimed he would get upset when his picture was taken and would constantly have security, which would make him "frantic" and "anxious".

His parents' long absences for work were another issue for the then-teenager. "They had nannies and siblings there. But he felt isolated," she told The Sun.

Alongside her revelations about his home life Afton insisted Brooklyn had written the statement himself telling the publication: "He is intelligent - and he's had enough."

Brooklyn rocked the showbiz world with the release of the six-page missive on his Instagram stories, which pulled no punches. He laid out his grievances in his introduction.

"I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private," he wrote. "Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.

"I do not want to reconcile with my family. I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life. For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.

"Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they'll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade. But I believe the truth always comes out."