It’s fair to say that Boris Becker has been on quite a rollercoaster throughout his career from becoming the youngest-ever Wimbledon champion at the age of 17 to being arrested and jailed for fraud, and now his return to the public eye with Celebrity Bear Hunt.
And it didn’t take long for Becker’ conviction to come up on the reality TV show. When his fellow campmates – which includes The Saturdays’ Una Healy, actor Joe Thomas and Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas – asked him about it, the former tennis champion was seemingly reluctant to talk about it but admitted that the experience had changed him.
Indeed, back in April 2023 following his release from HM Prison Huntercombe in December 2022, Becker shared in an interview with Radio 5 Live that his time in prison had been ‘brutal’.
The 57 year old admitted, ‘Whoever says that prison life isn’t hard and isn’t difficult, I think is lying. It was a very brutal … a very, very different experience to what you see in the movies, what you’ve heard from stories.
‘You fight every day for survival. Quickly, you have to surround yourself with the “tough boys”, as I would call it, because you need protection.’
He continued, ‘I’m a survivor; I’m a tough cookie. I’ve taken the incarceration, but I’ve also taken the glory and if anything this made me a stronger, better man.’
Who is Boris Becker?
Boris Franz Becker – born 22 November 1967 – was one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Winning 64 titles across his career including the gentleman’s singles Wimbledon Championships three times (first in 1985 at the age of 17) and an Olympic gold medal in doubles in 1992, Becker was known for his fast serve. Born in Leimen, Germany, Becker was also Grand Slam champion six times.
Following his retirement in June 1999, Becker became a tennis commentator and media personality.
Why did Boris Becker go to jail?
In April 2022, Becker’s carefully curated career came crashing down when he was sentenced to two and a half years in jail for hiding £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.
After being declared bankrupt in 2017 when he failed to pay a loan off on his estate in Mallorca, an investigation began in Becker’s finances. As a result, Becker was forced to auction off 82 collectables from his personal collection including his trophy from the 1982 US Open.
It was found that during the investigation the former tennis player had failed to declare not only his share in a £1million property in his German hometown of Leimen but also that he had hidden a bank loan of £700,000 on that house as well as shares in a technology firm valued at £66,000.
He was charged with illegally failing to hand over assets and trophies to repay his debt, and in March 2022 his trial began at Southwark Crown Court and eventually found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act in April 2022.
His incarceration began at HM Prison Wandsworth before he was transferred to HM Prison Huntercombe in Oxfordshire - a facility used to detain foreign criminals.
Did Boris Becker serve a full sentence and is he allowed in the UK?
Ultimately Becker only served eight months of his two-and-a-half-year sentence and was released in December 2022, but as part of his release conditions was deported to his native Germany and has not yet been able to enter the UK – perhaps explaining why he wasn’t present at the London-based launch event for Celebrity Bear Hunt.
Such a ban can last for up to ten years in some instances, but Becker is currently appealing to the UK’s home office to be allowed to return.
What is Boris Becker’s net worth?
Becker was previously worth an estimated £38million according to reports, but his bankruptcy and related criminal charges will have left him with very little.
Is Boris Becker married?
Becker tied the knot with wife number three, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, in September 2024 having got engaged back in 2021 prior to his prison sentence.
Prior to Lilian, 33, Becker tied the knot with designer and actress Barbara Feltus in December 1993 and the following month their son Noah Gabriel was born. Their second son Elias was born in September 1999. The pair split in December 2000 when Fletus was contacted by a woman claiming to be pregnant with Becker’s child and eventually Becker admitted to cheating on his wife when she was pregnant with their second child.
In February 2001, after initial denials, Becker acknowledge paternity of daughter Anna Ermakova whose mother, Angela Ermakova, was a Russian waitress at Nobu restaurant when the pair got together. In November 2007 he obtained joint custody of Anna after expressing concerns over how Ermakova was raising her.
In June 2009 Becker tied the knot with Dutch model Sharlely ‘Lilly’ Kerssenberg. Their son Amadeus was born on 10 February 2010, but in May 2018 the pair announced that they had separated and subsequent divorce hearings saw both parties accusing each other of ‘unreasonable behaviour’.
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations