Vickie Beckham - wasn't she Cheap Spice?

Published on August 6, 2007

Not so Victoria Beckham, who is supposedly trying to win hearts and minds in Los Angeles so Americans will watch hubby David play soccer with the LA Galaxy.

Instead, after a recent dinner at a swank Hollywood restaurant with Tom Cruise's wife Katie Holmes, she didn't leave a single cent on the table.

The waitress actually ran after the girls to point out that they'd forgotten something, but she was taken down by a bodyguard.

Maybe it was Katie's fault, and not tipping is some sort of Scientology thing. Who knows? But if we're blaming the footballer's wife, compare her miserliness to the generosity of a football manager.

In Japan, Sven Goran Eriksson - the other new guy at Manchester City Football Club - reportedly gave a restaurant doorman the equivalent of Bt3,500. (You have to hold the door just right.)

Sven gave his taxi driver a Bt1,400 tip, and then bought a newspaper (not The Nation) and gave the vendor Bt700.

Either he's a real sweetheart, or Thaksin Shinawatra is paying him way too much.