He revealed this afternoon that he will bow out of the sport when his season ends with Paris Saint-German in two games' time, and in a statement thanked his wife and family for 'everything':

"I wouldn't have achieved what I have done today without my family. I'm grateful for my parents' sacrifice, which made me realise my dreams. I owe everything to Victoria and the kids, who have given me the inspiration and support to play at the highest level for such a long period."

Fashion designer and Spice Girl Victoria took to her official Twitter page earlier, writing a message of thanks to her fans: "Thank you for all your lovely messages, we are so proud of you David x vb."

She also shared a personal snapshot of herself posing with Beckham, which can be seen above left. Together, the couple have three sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz, and one daughter, Harper.

Watch part of Beckham's retirement speech here:

The Dance man will top the bill at the Isle of Wight festival on its Friday night (September 6).

Norman Cook will play a special set called 'Fatboy Slim's Bestival Birthday Bash' in honour of the festival's 10th anniversary.

He spoke meanwhile about fellow headliners Sir Elton John and Snoop Dogg/Lion at a Bestival party last night (May 15), saying: 

"Elton actually opened for me in Ibiza last year! No, I played a show with Elton in Ibiza last year, and he's a great sport. To play to the Ibiza crowd - it was like me, and Steve Angello and then Elton slammed in the middle - but he's great, he just went on with his piano, no band, and rocked the Ibiza crowd with just a piano."

He added: "Snoop...I met very briefly once, he didn't make a lot of sense, and makes even less sense now he's been reincarnated [as Snoop Lion]."

Speaking to Hello! magazine, the 'Bleeding Love' beauty admitted that she's saddened by events such as the UK's Grand National because it encourages people to pump money into the sport, which often results in untimely deaths of the animals that are forced to take part:

"When something needs to be said, it needs to be said. I feel the Grand National is so old and outdated, it's like bullfighting. All the girls turn up in hats and nice dresses and people are betting, while animals are being run into the ground and just dying. It's disgusting, awful. They've got their pretty dresses on while these horses are getting broken necks, broken shoulders, being shot..."

"What's sickening is that people make so much money out of it. But it's cruel, it's abusive and it's not fair."

Watch her cover Bruno Mars's 'Locked Out Of Heaven' during a recent concert here:

The 35-year-old singer has previously revealed it was a "a massive relief" when he came out, but he still feels for people who find it difficult or challenging, because there isn't a widespread attitude of acceptance.

James - who is a Roman Catholic - says coming out as bisexual four years ago made him feel guilty, and he sometimes still struggles with those feelings now.

Speaking to British newspaper The Mirror, the popstar revealed he recently went to visit a priest after feeling overcome by his thoughts.

He said: “It was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I went to confession; I needed to confess. I wanted to get my confession out there and this to be a direct way to God – a way of saying: ‘Well this is how you made me’. I saw the priest and he broke the silence with: ‘So what is it you have to tell me?’

He continued: “It was a really hard thing for me to do, to explain I was gay and sleeping with guys. Obviously, this goes against everything the Catholic Church stands for. The priest was very quiet at the other end, and then finally spoke. I thought he was going to give me 50 Hail Marys and 100 Our Fathers but he didn’t. He was actually really cool with it. He gave me my act of contrition, and then gave me one thing to do – read the Gospel of Luke. He said it would help me.

“I got the message and felt relief after going back to church. I don’t go as often as I should, for which I do still feel guilty, but I do still have a massive faith. I just have to adapt it to who I am now. I know there are a lot of strict Catholics out there who will probably want to shoot me down with a gun now for saying that.

“But I don’t believe your religion should push you to live a lie. I am who I am.”

She recently visited Zambia in southern Africa to see how the money raised by Sport Relief, which topped $108.6 million (£67.9 million) in 2012, has helped women and their families in the area and in a video of her trip she explained that it makes such a significant difference:

"Thanks to the support of the U.K. government and the money you gave to Sport Relief, so many women have had the opportunity to change their lives. By giving these women a chance to earn an income they can make sure their children are fed, clothed and go to school and can build a brighter future for their families."

Lott spent time with young women who had been given grants to build small businesses and improve their lives and added:

"So now I've seen it first hand for myself how much your money has helped changed people's lives, and without you it wouldn't be possible, so thank you."

Watch video footage of her journey below:

Speaking to the Daily Star, Merrygold said that he often indulges in some cheeky chat-up lines with fans on the social networking website.

However, sometimes a female may reply only to find out that his bandmates have already deleted the original tweet from Merrygold, making the girl "look silly". He said:

"We share an account so we constantly delete things that each other tweets. And that especially applies when it comes to my chat-up lines. I send one, then the girl replies keen, but instantly she looks silly because the lads have deleted my original tweet."

He added: "It's frustrating, they do it all the time. It's ruining my mojo!"

The 25-year-old, whose band’s official Sport Relief single, ‘Proud,’ charted at six in the UK on Sunday, told the Daily Star that he’s taken to creating his own menus to ensure he’s in peak condition for the 13-date arena tour.  

“I’ve set myself a new diet where I eat clean foods and only drink water six days a week.

“I also do Bikram yoga and martial arts.

Oritse, who last week revealed he’s pitched a song he's written to Usher, also admitted he’s prepared to stick to his routine, no matter what the time of day:

“When we were last in America I thought: ‘If I have an alcoholic drink, I’ll need to burn this off’ so went straight to the gym at 3am after being in the club.”

The singleton said he has put relationships on the backburner for the time being as he looks to dedicate time to work and other endeavours.

He is reported to have told Top of the Pops magazine that he is still up for dating, however. He said:

"I've decided to give up on the girlfriend hunt, I'm not really too fussed. I've got lots of things to look forward to in the year, so I'm just going to take those opportunities and date."

Merrygold's bandmate Oritse Williams meanwhile denied speculation that he was a taken man. He said:

"Everyone's been speculating about me having a girlfriend. I go on lots of dates but I don't actually have a girlfriend."

Speaking about his new hairdo, Williams added: "It's still bronze. The decision behind it was just me wanting to evolve as an artist a little bit more. Like, will it assist in the evolution of Oritse Williams. I wanted to try it and worked. It definitely got me more female attention anyway."

The Mirror reports that the band have given two fans - aged 12 and 7 - free concert tickets and also backstage invitations after they fell foul of the online scam.

The pair are said to have lost out on £125, with the ticket website - www.jls-tickets.com - now being investigated by police.

The band will meet the kids next month, with one of their mothers saying: "It's such a kind thing to do."

A spokesman for JLS added: "The boys just wanted to help."

As previously reported, JLS recently revealed the level of abuse they receive from internet trolls, calling the amount of time people put into online negativity as "pathetic".

Both bands are currently enjoying success in the US, with One Direction topping the album chart.

Some people have put two and two together and suggested that the two boybands are now embroiled in a rivalry, with The Wanted being quoted in some interviews as hinting that One Direction are more about image than the music.

However, Louis Tomlinson told In:Demand that no such rivalry exists - and that the two groups play pretty different music. He said:

"We haven't seen [The Wanted], I've only read in the press what they might have said, but as far as where we stand I think it's all pretty silly to be honest. We are two boy bands but we actually make quite different music."

As previously reported, One Direction are currently giving fans the chace to bid money in order to be followed by the band and its five members as part of a Sport Relief charity campaign - however, it will cost upwards of £3,000.

The band are taking part in Sport Relief's Twitrelief campaign, which sees a number of special items go up for auction to raise funds for the charity.

One Direction are giving fans the chance to be followed on Twitter by every member of the band - as well as the band's official account - with a signed album thrown in too.

The auction, which is being run on eBay, is today (March 22) sitting at a hefty £3,101.00, with 67 bids placed so far. It ends in three days time (March 25).

Ferdinand, who is the brother of Manchester Utd and England defender Rio, told The Sun that he and his friend Marvin Humes used to sing together when they were kids.

They even performed at talent shows together and at other people's houses too. He said:

"We were the original JLS. We used to sing a lot together when we were younger and do talent competitions. We had a group of friends that used to go round each other's houses and sing."

And he left the door open for a sensational collaboration at some point in the future. He added:

"I'd definitely like to think about a collaboration with them in the future."

The 26-year-old drummer, who beat Jason Donovan and Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey in the 2011 final, is seen fitted out in scuba gear whilst submerged in a massive swimming pool alongside dancing partner Aliona Vilani in a picture released earlier today.

The McFly drummer said he was initially bewildered when told of the unusual routine: "When I first heard about Strictly Underwater, I thought, 'How is that going to work?'. I didn't quite understand what they meant and I didn't think it would work – but it does."

Judd first became involved with Sport Relief when McFly released a cover of Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ for the official 2006 single and in the same year also travelled to India to play in several cricket matches for the charity.

The spectacular performance, which sees the pair dancing to Take That’s 'The Flood,' will air on BBC1 on Friday night.

The UK boyband, who are set to chart inside the UK Top 5 this week with their official Sport Relief single, ‘Proud,’ told The Daily Mirror that they regularly have to deal with negative comments from social network users.

Aston says he found it hard to deal with the criticism early on in their career:

“It’s pathetic that people have got so much time and energy to put into negativity. When we were starting out you couldn’t help but read all these negative comments on the internet.

“I’d ask myself ‘Why would someone hate me so much?’ It is hard. All the smoke and mirrors... everything looks great on the outside, but stuff happens behind closed doors that isn’t always so great."

The 24-year-old, currently in the middle of the band's 4th Dimension arena tour, also blasted those who targeted his sister following the band’s X-Factor success:

“I was bullied a little when I was younger, but what tipped me over the edge was her. It was hard for people around us to get to grips with our success, and my sister got bullied as a result.

“We’ve had racist abuse be it on YouTube or Twitter, all the troll stuff. How people can lower themselves to that set of mind... It’s wrong, awful.

“You just have to be thick-skinned in this industry and try and ignore it. But now I don’t read the comments. It’s a case of be the best you can be, and the old saying, ‘If you’ve got nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all’.”