David Beckham regrets getting cornrows two days before flying to meet Nelson Mandela.
The retired England and Manchester United football legend was known as much for his ever changing haircuts as his skills on the pitch, going from curtains and a ponytail to a mohawk and buzzcut over the years.
As reported by The Sun newspaper, David told Ben Winston during a charity fundraiser at St John's Wood Synagogue in North London: "We were there with family and one of Victoria’s friends who is a hairdresser.
"I asked if she could do something with my hair and she said, ‘Do you want cornrows?’ and I said, ‘Yeah. I don’t know what they are. But yeah’.
"It was painful having them done but I liked them. People ask if I have any regrets about my hairstyles and while I don’t regret any of them, I do sort of regret the cornrows.
“I had them put in on the Saturday and on the Monday I flew to South Africa with the England team for a match.
“I got to meet the great Nelson Mandela. And the picture that I’ve got of Nelson Mandela is me holding his hand with cornrows in my hair. That’s my only regret.”
The 48-year-old star insisted he is now trying to live his life without regrets, and when it comes to his career, he has moments he wishes hadn't happened, but knows there were lessons to be learned.
At the 1998 World Cup, he kicked Argentina player Diego Simeone, which led to him getting sent off before England were dumped from the competition.
He explained: "There’s nothing that I regret in my career. I still think about that incident most weeks. It still affects me but I think it happened for a reason.
“It is a tough moment in my life. It was a tough moment for my family. I’m going to try not to get emotional... but I was young and I made a mistake. I did something stupid and silly and I honestly suffered for that."
However, despite suffering abuse in the street, David feels like it helped him.
He added: "It was a difficult moment and I think that’s what made me as a person, as a player.”
