Boris Becker to open up about stay in UK jail after signing £435,000 tell-all deal with German TV

Shahida Jacobs 20 Dec 2022 10:44 AM

Six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker is set to give a detailed account about his time in prison in the United Kingdom during an interview on German TV.

The former world No 1 spent eight months behind bars – first at the category B Wandsworth Prison in south-west London before being moved to the category C Huntercombe Prison near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire – after he was jailed for hiding £2.5million of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

Becker was handed two-and-a-half year jail sentence in April, but he was released last week and was deported to Germany on a private jet that was chartered by a friend.

Former world No 1 Boris Becker freed from UK prison and set for deportation

It was reported in October that Becker initially struggled with life in prison, but he eventually adapted and helped “fellow inmates by sharing his life experiences and teaching them how to improve their fitness and nutrition” while he was “popular with his fellow inmates”.

And the 55-year-old has signed £435,000 tell-all deal with a German TV station with the interview set to be aired on Tuesday, December 20.

According to Mail Online, the hour-long interview will see Becker “describing his terror over being forced to share a cell with murderers and sex offenders, and his confusion over basics such as showering behind bars”.

A source told the outlet: “It’s been a very rapid turnaround but it’s taken time because the interview has been done in German and English. The aim is to distribute it abroad to a world-wide market and there has been significant interest.

“He’s been so busy he hasn’t even had time to see his mother but they have spoken on the telephone. The final editing will go down to just a few hours before broadcast on Tuesday night and then afterwards there will be a live TV debate.”

Well-known German TV host Steven Gatjen visited Becker in prison and he was also the man to sit down with the former tennis player for the interview.

“When I visited him in prison, a very slim Boris Becker greeted me with a smile on his face. In conversation, I found him surprisingly cheerful, like someone who had a lot of time to think,” Gatjen said.

“And he was very emotional, especially in the moments when he spoke about his time in Wandsworth First Prison. His description of the first days in Wandsworth Prison.

“It’s not just people who have committed financial crimes who are incarcerated there, but also sex offenders, murderers and people who have committed major robberies.

“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.

“He just wanted some fresh air. He said he would have done anything for it. He did not enjoy a celebrity bonus while in custody.”

Becker lost his role as commentator for the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage and at Eurosport Germany following his imprisonment and it has already been claimed that he is unlikely to be return to the UK for his commentary gig.