David Beckham Groped By Italian TV Host

David Beckham, 34, was subject to a prank by a female Italian TV presenter who tried to grab his, er, “golden balls” in order to see if they matched up to what his Armani ads portray. “Off the pitch we have seen fascinating photographs of David Beckham in his underpants and seemingly very well endowed and even his wife says that he is well equipped and calls him Golden Balls,” Elena Di Cioccio, the culprit and presenter of a popular Italian show Le lene – The Hyenas, told her viewers. “Well the image may have slipped slightly as he has been replaced in the Armani campaign by a younger footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, but we wanted to find out if he was as well endowed as the pictures suggest or if they were touched up.”

When the TV presenter went for the grab, wearing yellow rubber gloves, she was hauled away by Beckham’s security guards, failing to reach her target, shouting, “I touched it but it’s small. David you have conned us all. What did you use cotton wool? It’s all a trick.”

An insider at Le Iene told London’s Daily Mail: “It was just a joke and we hope that Beckham took it in the spirit it was meant.” David, for his part, certainly didn’t look amused by the stunt. –MANDY COHEN in London