David Beckham Says He 'Absolutely' Fell in Love with Wife Victoria at First Sight (Exclusive)

"Of course she was a Spice Girl and sexy and beautiful and charming," David tells PEOPLE of first meeting his wife of 25 years

David Beckham realized his wife Victoria was special from the moment he met her in 1997!

While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at Stella Artois' Let's Do Dinner event at Cipriani in New York City on Thursday, Sept. 19, David, 49, explained that from the minute he first laid eyes on his wife Victoria, 50, he knew that she was the one.

When questioned if it was "love at first sight," the Stella Artois global ambassador insisted, "Absolutely."

"Well, of course. She was a Spice Girl and sexy and beautiful and charming," the former professional soccer player continued.

Related: David Beckham Admits He's Just as Competitive with His Kids as He Is On the Field: 'I Want to Win'

He added, "Then I found out what a strong woman she is. So it's again the gift that kept on giving."

David and Victoria tied the knot on July 4, 1999 and share four kids together; Brooklyn Beckham, 25, Romeo Beckham, 22, Cruz Beckham, 19, and Harper Beckham, 13. They first met at a Manchester United game — the soccer team David used to play for — in 1997.

The former soccer player also spoke to PEOPLE about entering his farmer era, with his chickens making appearances on his social media recently.

"My wife gets a lot of content out of the chickens," he joked to PEOPLE, revealing that the family had unfortunately lost one of the pets.

"I'm down a chicken. The others are doing great. I'm sure you're going to be seeing a lot more content," he said.

Related: David Beckham Says His Packing Habits ‘Annoy’ Wife Victoria and He Always Packs This One Thing

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Forever his wife's hype man, David recently spoke about his other half while talking at a Bowers & Wilkins event in N.Y.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

David credited Victoria for inspiring him to try new looks, saying at the event, "She always gave me that confidence and, and she still does now, even after 27 years. She still gives me that confidence that, you know, wanting to look good and wanting to feel good."

David added of whether he's influenced his wife's style, "I'm not sure. I like to think I do," he began, adding, "To be honest, she always looks good. It's a good problem but it's a problem. She always looks great. So it's a pretty easy job for me."

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"She has a huge influence in my style," the soccer icon shared. "When I put something on, I know from her reaction whether I need to take it off or whether I need to keep it on."

For their recent 25th wedding anniversary, they surprised fans, in an Instagram post on Wednesday, July 3, by wearing the purple Antonio Berardi looks from their 1999 reception in a photo shoot.

"Look what we found… 😅💜," David jokingly captioned a post at the time.

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