David Beckham Has Dirty Secret Victoria Hates -- Smoking

Soccer Superstar David Beckham, 34,  suffers from exercise-induced asthma and must often use an inhaler to keep his air passages open during games, yet the LA Galaxy also has a dirty secret – he smokes.

Wife Victoria Beckham, 35, has reportedly banned him from smoking in their LA mansion in an effort to break him of his potentially deadly habit.

But David reportedly sneaks outside to smoke his favorite hand-rolled Cuban cigars, which happen to be illegal in the United States because of a ban on trade with the Communist controlled island.

“He loves the taste. I think he likes the image too. Lots of Hollywood stars smoke them,” a friend to the UK tabloid The Sun.

Beckham is know for his superfit physique, but his stay in Los Angeles to play for the Galaxy and his exposure to Hollywood culture has corrupted him. His favorite cigar the Cohiba, costs $50 each, if you can get them at all.

He’s kept his asthma under wraps, but was recently spotted using an inhaler during a game.

Beckham says his asthma has nothing to do with his smoking, and he reportedly smokes cigars because he considers them less harmful than cigarettes. But that is untrue. Both are known cancer causers, and can exacerbate asthma and lead to emphysema.

“It’s strange to see such an athlete as Becks smoking. But he doesn’t have any other vices,” the friend said.

Wife Victoria, also was a smoker, including cigars, but she quit, and now she doesn’t want her husband smoking around sons Brooklyn, ten, Romeo, seven, and Cruz, four.

“The smoking is just his way of relaxing as he nears the end of his career. There is no doubt he is very fit for his age and takes exceptional care of himself,” said the friend.

The star’s spokesman dismissed his dirty habit, saying it was “not true” to describe him as a smoker.

“He may have had a puff on a cigar once or twice in the past to make a celebration but that is it,” he said.