I’m Gillian McKeith’s daughter – I’ve dated Brooklyn Beckham but it was reality star who put me off Brit men for good
AS the daughter of poo-inspecting nutritionist Gillian, not much can phase Afton McKeith.
But when the 23-year-old bumped into a very famous ex and his new wife recently at a celeb favourite supermarket in Los Angeles, she was left cringing.
Afton dated Brooklyn Beckham, now 24, when she was a teenager – but claims she’s not interested in what he gets up to now – including his recent nuptials to Nicola Peltz, 28.
She tells The Sun: “I didn’t watch any of his wedding. I actually don’t keep up with what he does.
“But I actually bumped into him not so long ago in Los Angeles at my local supermarket – Erewhon – and her as well.
“You know, they seem good. I wish them the best. I hope they have a really long and happy marriage.”
Afton – who publicly told how Brooklyn blocked her on Instagram – added: “It was extremely awkward.”
The young couple’s fling was reportedly between Brooklyn’s relationships with Madison Beer and Chloe Grace Moretz. A source told Daily Star at the time: “The romance didn’t last too long but Afton definitely grew feelings for Brooklyn.”
At the time Afton – who met Brooklyn’s parents at their family home and claimed Victoria was “very protective” over her son, insisted: “I’m better off without him. I’m fine.”
Afton has enjoyed a two-and-a-half stint in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas where she started an acting career and was even crowned a Miss USA spokesmodel.
She’s now moved back to London to be closer to her mum – who recently starred in I’m A Celebrity South Africa.
‘I’m no nepo baby’
Afton says growing up with Gillian on Channel 4’s You Are What You Eat meant she was introduced to fame from an early age.
In her pan-Atlantic accent, she recalls: “My mom definitely was, I would say, the first to do health on television and to be inspecting poo on television.
“I thought it was normal growing up. I thought that every person’s mom was on television.
“I remember being like three years old and seeing some woman on TV, I don’t know, on the news or something. And I was like, ‘Oh, whose mom is this from my class?’.
“I genuinely thought that everyone in my school, that their mom was on TV.”
But Afton says she’s the furthest you can get from a ‘nepo baby‘ – the term used for Hollywood offspring who trade on their parents’ names.
She claims going to Hampstead Fine Arts College with the likes of Madonna‘s son Rocco Ritchie and Anais Gallagher – daughter of Noel -put her off the celebrity game.
“Some of these kids of celebrities, they would just call the paps to take pictures of them at Starbucks by our school,” Afton says.
“That was what you had to deal with on a daily basis. I was afraid I was going to be seen. I didn’t want to be seen when I was trying to go to school.”
Cringe reality star dates
Afton is now working as a movement coach, helping pageant contestants with their poise on the catwalk, but also works as an actor, using her dad – US lawyer Howard Magaziner’s – surname.
But she insists she’d never be ashamed of the link to her mum.
They are so close they like to dress in matching outfits.
Gillian even tries to give her opinion on boyfriends – famously saying “no boyfriends now until she is 25” after she split from Brooklyn.
But Afton confesses it was a reality star which pushed her to swear off British men forever.
In her teens she dated a Made in Chelsea cast member – who she has chosen not to name – but claims his avid interest in her mum became too much.
Afton recalls: “He would just be asking about my mum like, ‘How’s your mum?’
“I was thinking, ‘Do you want to date me or my mom? Maybe I should call my mom right now and you can go on a date with her’.”
She adds: “I remember on a date with him, he tried to kiss me, but I had to dodge his kiss because I was so turned off by him asking me about my mum.”
New fans
Mum Gillian now appeals to younger fans after videos of her fainting in the I’m A Celeb jungle in 2010 went viral on TikTok.
Afton says: “I’m very careful with who I go out with because I do not want to go out with the superfan. It’s very awkward.”
She now prefers to date Americans who she claims are far more relaxed about fame – and says mum Gilian has some very famous admirers.
“There are people who know her, especially in the celebrity circles, because a lot of A-list celebrities actually watch her shows and have her books and have bought her products,” she tells us.
“Jennifer Aniston has her books, and I know that Madonna has her products in her books, and you know that the Beckhams have them too.”
While many joke about Gillian’s candidness regarding poo, Afton says she was just ahead of her time – paving the way for wellness gurus like Gwyneth Paltrow.
Afton – who set up Afton Movement Coaching – adds: “Thanks to people like my mum, it’s really influenced the new generations.
“I’m Gen Z and we’re very health conscious,” she says. “We are very careful about what we put into our bodies.”