Beckhams unite for cameras

An intimate dinner for two, champagne at Claridge's, then smiles for the cameras ... this is David and Victoria Beckham putting a brave face on their troubles (yet again).

As the couple weathered a second weekend of allegations about the England captain's sex life, the Beckhams hit back with a public display of unity - and a statement threatening legal action.

Their pose for the photographers - after dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Claridge's restaurant - came as the woman behind the latest sex claims offered her excuses for selling her story to the News of the World. Sarah Marbeck said she revealed the alleged relationship because she spent two years waiting for the star.

"For two years my life was on hold while I waited for him," she said in a statement released by her lawyer in Australia. "He said he loved me and I slept with the phone by my bed waiting for it to ring. Finally, I accepted my relationship with Beckham was over. But in that time my life changed forever, and there is no way back for me."

She spoke as Beckham released a statement describing the allegations as "absurd" and saying lawyers had been instructed to look into them. Ms Marbeck, 29, claimed not to be a "celebrity seeker" and described herself as being "shocked by the intense level of public interest in my life". An ex-boyfriend of hers, former British magazine journalist Jake Hamilton-said Ms Marbeck would write down Beckham's text messages - including one when England beat Germany 5-1.

"That was strange," said Mr Hamilton,

32. "She had these ... sheets of A4 paper in her handbag. They were covered in notes, although I didn't read them all.

"I think ... she could hardly believe she was having a relationship with David Beckham, the David Beckham. The only way she could convince herself it was real was by writing down all the messages.

"I don't think she did it so she could cash in, otherwise she would not have kept quiet for two and a half years."

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Mr Hamilton told how Beckham texted her after the victory over Germany.

"She was jumping for joy, bouncing around on the bed. It was two minutes after the game ended and Sarah got a text from Becks. She said to me, 'It's him.'

"It was a really stupid, soppy text, nothing to do with football initially. It was stuff like, 'I miss you,' and 'I want you.'"

Mr Hamilton added: "Sarah was smitten with Becks, genuinely fond of him. I think he wanted companionship."

An interview with Rebecca Loos, the former personal assistant behind the first sex allegations, will be broadcast on Sky One on Thursday.