Tennis star Boris Becker's former fiancée told an ITV documentary how the tennis star “threw her under the bus” – when she found out through the tabloids that their relationship had ended.
Alessandra Meyer Wolden revealed the disastrous end to her engagement in the second part of ITV's Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall, which airs next Tuesday.
Ms. Meyer Wolden was the daughter of Becker's longtime tennis manager Axel Meyer-Wolden, who died in 1997, and she knew the star as a child.
She was only 24 years old when she started dating Becker in the summer of 2008, while he was 40.
Ms Meyer Wolden described how the beginning of the relationship felt “like a fairy tale” and how he suggested a romantic trip to Sardinia.
Becker proposed to his 24-year-old girlfriend Alessandra Meyer-Wolden during a vacation on the Italian island of Sardinia in 2008 – but the relationship quickly deteriorated
Meyer Wolden said the relationship in 2008 initially felt “like a fairy tale,” but she soon discovered that Becker's personal life was “a mess.”
The couple at Oktoberfest 2008 – shortly before the end of their relationship
Ms Meyer Wolden's father Axel was the tennis star's manager in the 1980s and 90s and she said she “felt safe” with him at the start of their relationship.
Ms Meyer Wolden revealed the disastrous end of her relationship with the tennis star in part two of Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall on ITV, which airs next Tuesday
Boris Becker: Rise and Fall airs next Tuesday at 9pm on ITV (Pictured: Boris Becker at Southwark Crown Court with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro)
However, the situation worsened when she became ill while accompanying Becker on a trip to Miami to see his two sons from his first wife, Barbara.
After an angry exchange via text message, Becker went to the German tabloid Bild Zeuting and announced via text message that he had been fired, surprising his young fiancée.
Ms Meyer-Wolden said: “In my mind, at 24, it was only about ten years after my father died… I felt safe.”
“And because I always had in the back of my mind that my father and he trusted Boris and treated Boris like family.
'[I thought] Maybe I should be here. Maybe you know, this is the crazy love story with all that history…the happy ending.
“The story was… it was like a fairy tale.”
“I knew Boris was Boris, but I had no idea what that entailed.” His personal life was a mess. There were divorces, there were children, there were separations.
“We had a trip to Miami before we separated, where we spent time with his children, and I became very ill.” But Boris wasn't happy with that, and suddenly he stopped answering my calls and started acting strangely.
“I didn't know where he was. So of course I called and of course I sent a message. The message I wrote to Boris said: “Well, if you don't respond and don't communicate with me, then I guess our engagement has failed?”
“He took that message, took it completely out of context and went to Bild-Zeitung (tabloid newspaper) with this message and said, 'Look, this horrible young 24-year-old girl broke up with me, Boris Becker, via text message .” “.
“I found out about the failed engagement from the headline in the Bild newspaper, in which Boris portrayed himself as a victim and cleaned up his image so that he would look good
“To this day I have never spoken to him again. So he threw me under the bus.'
The documentary also describes the failure of Becker's first marriage in the 1990s. Becker famously impregnated model Angela Ermakova during an amorous encounter in the closet of London restaurant Nobu – just as his wife Barbara was in hospital, causing a difficult pregnancy with their second son.
Barbara later filed for divorce in Miami, where she was able to seek increased alimony and support payments for herself and her two sons. Ermakova gave birth to his daughter Anna and the story of their union was reported in a News of the World edition.
Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offenses under the Insolvency Act and acquitted of a further 20 charges at Southwark Crown Court.
Having exhausted his multi-million pound fortune, Becker found himself in an inescapable debt hole and was declared bankrupt in June 2017 due to an unpaid loan of more than £3 million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
To hide assets of £2.5 million during the bankruptcy, Becker transferred €427,000 (£356,000) to the bank accounts of several recipients, including his ex-wife Barbara and his estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
He also failed to declare his share of a £1m property in his hometown of Leimen in Germany, hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 – worth £1.1m including interest – and hid 75,000 shares in a technology company Valued at £66,000.
But he continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, buy online groceries from Ocado and splurge on designer clothes from Ralph Lauren, the jury heard.
Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offenses under the Bankruptcy Code
Becker continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, buy online groceries from Ocado and splurge on designer clothes from Ralph Lauren, the jury heard
He is also alleged to have hidden around £950,000 from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owns in Germany, which was paid into his Boris Becker Private Office (BBPOL) account.
Becker was found guilty of stealing property worth €426,930 (£350,000) from nine recipients, including his ex-wives Barbara and Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
He was also convicted of attempting to conceal ownership of his £1.8 million villa Im Schilling in his hometown of Leimen, Germany, as well as his ownership of 75,000 Data Corp shares.
The jury also found him guilty of concealing an €825,000 (£688,000) loan he owed to Bank Alpinum in Lichtenstein.
But he was acquitted of all other charges, including failing to hand over nine tennis trophies, including those won at the 1985 and 1989 Wimbledon tournament, the 1991 and 1996 Australian Open and the 1992 Olympics.
Becker had already attempted tax evasion worth £1.4 million in Germany in 2002.
Each count carried a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. This afternoon Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced the six-time Grand Slam winner to 30 months in prison, of which he will serve at least half.
Referring to Becker's previous conviction, the judge said this afternoon: “You failed to heed the warning you were given and the opportunity the suspended sentence gave you and that is a significant aggravating factor.”
And she told Becker, the father of four: “I take into account what has been described as your “fall from grace”. As a result of your bankruptcy, you have lost your career, your reputation, and all of your property.
“You have shown no remorse, no acceptance of guilt and attempted to distance yourself from your crime and your bankruptcy. “While I accept your humiliation as part of the process, there was no humility.”
As he was led away, Becker had a red face and appeared to be struggling with his overnight bag. His girlfriend Lilian De Carvalho Monteiro blew him a kiss before he disappeared from the courtroom into the cells below.
In an interview with 5 Live Breakfast, the three-time Wimbledon champion said that imprisonment was a “real punishment” but that he had discovered he was a “survivor”.
Where is Boris Becker now?
Boris was released from prison on early release in December 2022 after serving eight months of his sentence at Huntercomb Prison in Oxon.
The tennis legend was accepted into the program, which allows “any foreign national serving a fixed sentence and facing deportation from the UK to be released from prison and deported up to 12 months before the earliest release date of their sentence.” can be”.
Becker was then deported to his home country of Germany, where he landed a new job as the face of a new German television advertising campaign and sold used motorhomes.
Becker was pictured last year in a shoot for Wohn Mobil Park, posing in front of a mobile home with the slogan: “Go somewhere else often: exactly my thing.”
Visit also means “to serve” from German.
Boris Becker appears in an advertising campaign selling motorhomes in his native Germany
Boris Becker is pictured with his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro at the premiere of “Boom!” Boom! The world against Boris Becker at the Berlinale International Film Festival last year
Since his release, Becker has made several appearances to rebuild his public persona.
He announced his return to tennis on Thursday November 19th when he revealed that he was coaching the extremely talented Dane Holger Rune.
But the conditions of his release from prison mean he is banned from entering Britain – the icon was banned from Wimbledon this summer and will remain so this year.
With the help of business-savvy partner and risk analyst Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, 34, Becker has secured a number of impressive performances despite the conviction.
Lilian is the official managing director of BFB GmbH (Boris Franz Becker) and is now steering Boris' comeback course after his separation from his previous advisors.
In February last year, the German took the stage at a film festival in Berlin to promote his film “Boom!” Boom! “The World vs Boris Becker,” a documentary about his triumphs, failures and everything in between.
The film shows Becker solemnly accepting his convictions and wrestling with the missteps of his life.
Becker then collected a huge fee for a television interview on German broadcaster SAT 1, opted to stay in a boutique hotel and soon landed a cushy job as a commentator on Eurosport.
Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall airs on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV.