David Beckham’s bum ankle might be keeping him on the sidelines, much to the dismay of LA Galaxy’s fans and owners, but his career as a media icon continues to prosper. The most recent development is the report that Becks and Take That singer Robbie Williams are slated to play a gay couple on Desperate Housewives. Series creator Marc Cherry had announced earlier that a gay couple would be added to the show’s ensemble cast for the upcoming fourth season, but Robbie and Becks aren’t that couple. Instead, they will be (and I’m quoting Cherry here) “the new neighbors’ best friends; the gorgeous, eccentric couple flown over from Britain.”

Hmmm. Call me crazy, but it sounds to me as if Cherry’s remarks might have a certain amount of subtext. It almost sounds as if the first gay couple might be intended to represent some real life couple whose new best friends are a gorgeous, eccentric couple flown over from Britain. Certainly this comment has to arouse your suspicion:

David’s keen, but though the obvious choice was to work with Tom Cruise, we wanted someone who matches him in height and well, Britishness, so Robbie is the one.

Oddly enough, Tom Cruise seems to have shown little interest in playing a gay man and remains fully committed to Valkyrie, in which he plays a Nazi.