David Beckham has recounted a game played by Tom Cruise in which he was required to sing.

The football star told George Lopez that Cruise at a restaurant one night said: “OK, let’s play a music game. Let’s start a singing game.”

Beckham, who regards singing as his “worst nightmare”, was not thrilled. So he went about getting out of the game, going so far as to text a friend at a nearby table to help him out.

He did reserve praise for Cruise, who took Becks and his wife Victoria under his wing when they landed in Hollywood. He said the actor is “one of the most handsome men I’ve ever met”.