Six-time Grand Slam tennis champion Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon three times, has told the story of his time in prison in an interview with a German television station
Boris Becker has broken his silence about life in prison(Image: SAT.1/Nadine Rupp)
Former tennis player Boris Becker was seen donning a fresh new hairstyle in his first interview since he was released from jail last week.
The German ditched his usual look and dyed his silver locks to a darker blonde before a TV interview about his experience in prison, which is airing in Germany this evening. This is the first time the former world number one has been pictured since before he was sentenced in April to two-and-a-half years behind bars after being found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.
During the interview, Becker – who only served eight months in prison – says his spell in jail had been good for him.
The three-time Wimbledon champion claimed his eight months in prison has helped him get back to who he was before. He said: “I think I rediscovered the person I used to be. I learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one.
READ MORE: Tennis legend Boris Becker released from prison as he admits he ‘hit rock bottom’
“But the whole thing has something important and good for me learned. And some things happen for a good reason.” However, the 55-year-old admitted he hated being caged with rapists and murderers.
He said: “You’re nobody in prison. You’re just a number. Mine was A2923EV. I wasn’t called Boris. I was a number. And they don’t give a f*** who you are.”
The star lays bare about his jail time for bankruptcy-related financial offences in the £435,000 interview. Details of the hour-long chat, broadcast tonight, include Becker describing his confusion over basics such as showering behind bars.
Since the Grand Slam icon was freed from prison in the UK under an early release scheme on December 15, he has been holed up in a hotel. Boris’ interviewer Steven Gatjen reportedly saw him three times in prison.
Becker, who won Wimbledon three times, was jailed in April(Image: Getty Images)
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He said: “Boris Becker told me that he was very afraid of ending up in a collective cell. For the first four days, however, he was alone, incommunicado, and locked in his cell 24 hours a day, with an hour out a day.
“He didn’t even take a shower during this time because he didn’t know how and where that was actually done in prison. After those first four days in solitary confinement, his only goal was to get out and work.”
Boris was freed from HMP Hunterscombe in Oxfordshire and flown by private jet to the TV station to Munich for recording. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in April for hiding £2.5 million worth of assets and loans to avoid repaying his debts.
