I got death threats in prison because of money, Boris Becker reveals

I got TWO death threats from killers while in prison because of money… and my dirty laundry, Boris Becker reveals: Disgraced Wimbledon ace says he wore a hoodie to ‘look like a gangster’ as he describes life behind bars in £435K TV interview

• Boris Becker was jailed in April for failing to hand over assets during bankruptcy
• He was initially sent to HM Prison Wandsworth and then HM Prison Huntercombe
• The tennis star said his life was threatened by inmates in an interview with Sat TV

Convicted tennis ace Boris Becker described how convicted murderers threatened to kill him in prison, both for his money and to make him do their laundry. 

The three times Wimbledon champion sat down for a controversial £435,000 interview with Sat TV and described how he went to prison looking like ‘a gangster for protection’.

The documentary began with Becker filmed emerging from a blacked out people carrier at the TV studios in Munich with his painter and musician son Noah and girlfriend Lilian.

Dressed in black they are seen walking into the Sat 1 studio, with interviewer Steven Gatjen talking over pictures of Huntercombe where he had visited Becker with Lilian twelve days ago and spent two hours with him under the supervision of four guards.

Boris Becker revealed he was threatened by murderers while in prison in an interview with German tv channel Sat1

Sat 1 editor in chief Julian Esling, who was also on the visit, said: ‘Lilian can speak many languages, including English, German and Portuguese and can switch to really good German. She and Boris seemed very familiar and in love.’

The disgraced sports star explained how he had ‘given press the slip’ by staying with friends in southern Germany and avoiding public places and hotels.

Becker said: ‘I was with good friends in southern Germany, and I have great friends but they don’t want to be named. No newspaper was able to find me and I was able to hide there with them for a bit.

‘We had to be very difficult and we didn’t go to any public places and I held back a bit until we came to Munich for the interview. We didn’t play hide and seek any more but it worked out and so far no one has been able to get a picture of me.

The interview proper began with Becker sat at a table opposite the host, appearing noticeable slimmer than when he was sentenced in April, he said: ‘First of all, thank you for the invitation and of course I was guilty.’

He added: ‘I went to jail weighing 97 kilograms and later I was 90kg but since then a few kilograms have been added. Prison was good for my health, there was no alcohol except home-made schnapps.

Becker also revealed how he sort spiritual help during his trial and said: ‘I went to church every day to pray.’

Becker pictured in April at Southwark Crown Court, just before he was jailed

The interview then cut to Lilian who was sat nearby and Becker broke down in tears, as he revealed how the day he was sentenced was also her birthday.

He said: ‘I took the opportunity and bought her white roses but it was a sad day for me and for us. It couldn’t have been written more unbelievably.’

Blinking back tears he added: ‘My lawyer came around 2pm to tell me to be ready, as there was a verdict. Lilian and Noah came with me and we all hugged each other for a long time because I knew that after the verdict I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye.

‘The stand in the court goes straight down into the basement behind a glass screen and you are then taken away. It doesn’t get any more brutal than that.’

Asking for a few seconds to compose himself, Becker added: ‘I told Lilian. ‘My love, you don’t have to wait for me. I don’t know how long I will have to go to prison for.’

‘She looked at me and said: “Boris, we are a team and you are my partner.” She looked at me and hugged me saying “Don’t talk s**t”.’

Becker then recalled how when he first arrived at HMP Wandsworth after being found guilty and said: ‘I just looked at the floor a lot. I didn’t want to look anyone in the eye and upset them.

‘It was extremely dangerous and extremely dirty. It’s just cell after cell and you meet all sorts in there, all criminals from London, murderers, child molesters, drug dealers and rapists.

‘I was body searched, because they look for drugs and parts of mobile telephones and then my picture was taken and some people wanted to have their picture taken with me.’

When Becker went to HMP Wandsworth he said he dressed like ‘a gangster’ to protect himself, but the clothes were taken off him beforehand

He added: ‘I had two big concerns, one was a double cell, sharing a cell with someone who could attack you or threaten you and then the shower cubicles.

‘You close the door, take your clothes off and look behind you, it’s not human. You have seen the films and dropping the soap but then the governor explained to me and that it would be safe, so I was grateful to him.

Becker went on: ‘That was my home in HMP Wandsworth, there are no mirrors in the cell because you can break it and use it as a weapon but when I moved to Huntercombe and I saw myself in the mirror I was shocked at how I looked.’

When asked what he had taken with him to jail Becker said: ‘I wanted to look cool, so I had a hoodie, to look like a gangster for protection and a baseball cap, everything was black.

‘But I was told “nice try” and I was given grey jogging pants and a grey sweatshirt but they were all too small. The main thing is not to be noticed in prison.’

Becker revealed that he thought he ‘I would lose my life in Wandsworth’ in his interview with Sat TV

He added: ‘When the cell door is slammed shut at 8pm, no one told me when it would open again and that’s when your whole world collapses and you are alone with your thoughts. I was desperate, I was afraid and I bought some books with me to read.

‘The food was always the same during the week rice and potatoes but on Sunday we would get a roast, usually chicken.’

Becker also revealed how his life was threatened twice in prison – once in Wandsworth and once in Huntercombe – both by convicted killers.

He said: ‘I thought I would lose my life in Wandsworth, someone, a murderer I later found out, wanted my coat and he wanted money and he said he would kill me if he didn’t get it.

‘Then in Huntercombe another murderer said they wanted to kill me, he told me what he was going to do to me unless I let him do my laundry, this was only very recently, in October and when he told me my food tray was shaking.

‘But in the end the next day he fell to his knees in front of me, apologised and kissed my hand and said he respected me.

‘Three people saved my in prison, they were James, Russell and Bill, they were listeners and they knew their way around and they also wanted to protect me.’

Becker revealed he taught English and German in Huntercombe and said: ‘Having a job was important in prison, it made my life easier.’

It also emerged in the hour long interview that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had asked to visit him: ‘We are good friends and I gave his name to the authorities but then they came back and said that he couldn’t come as he was too famous and they were concerned for his safety.

‘I was allowed two visits a month and I had to give these names to the authorities so they could be checked out but it is a very slow process. The first time Lilian came she said she was shocked at how I looked – although she only told me that later.’

Boris Becker’s mother Elvira was seen for the first time in public on Tuesday just ahead of her son’s controversial £435,000 interview with German TV station Sat 1

Becker explained how all his money in prison went on soap, showergel, toothpaste and telephone calls but as he only had £7 a week it didn’t go very far: ‘I had to get Lilian to call my mother and my children and my agent.

‘Then a priest came to visit and I asked him to help me call my mother as it was Mother’s Day in Germany, I told him I couldn’t do it from my cell so I spoke with her and I told her “I’m alive. I’m fine” I told her that she didn’t need to worry, that was a lie of course but I didn’t want to upset her.’

Becker also revealed how he was flooded with letters from fans and friends including one from arch rival and fellow tennis player Micheal Stich.

The two won gold at the Barcelona Olympics doubles in 1992 and he said:’ That was a real surprise when I got his letter. I just didn’t expect that. It gave me strength, it was real sportsmanship and we forget our rivalry. It was a very strong gesture of support, an emotional ace.’

For his 55th birthday last month Becker revealed: ‘I got three cakes. I don’t know how it happened, I don’t even get three cakes when I was free on the outside, let alone in prison. They were three chocolate cakes and I shared them with my prison buddies.

‘You stick together with your fellow inmates, you share clothes, shoes, salt, chocolate. I believe that I will remain connected to some of my inmates forever. When you have fought for survival together, that brings you together. We needed each other.’

Speaking about his children he said:’ I am very proud of them. I spoke to them as often as I could and they came to visit but not the youngest, I didn’t want a 12-year-old child to visit me. I don’t know if I could take it, if he hugged me and the guard then took him away.

When asked how he felt when his partner visited his voice broke as he replied:’ That was the nicest two hours of the week, when she came but then when the door closed as she left…’

Taking a deep breath he added:’ I was never afraid that our love would not survive. We always faced that, I don’t know hoe we managed it but we tried to speak at least once a day.

‘We held hands over the phone and it was only through her love and strength that I survived.’

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