adminCONVICTED tennis ace Boris Becker was seen for the first time since being released from prison – and his first appointment was with a hairdresser to dye his silver locks strawberry blond, MailOnline can reveal.
Pictures obtained exclusively reveal how the three times Wimbledon champion went for the dramatic change of look as he sat down for a controversial £435,000 paid interview with German TV.
The last picture of him was taken in April when he was sentenced to two and a half years jail at Southwark Crown Court and showed him thicker set, with a mass of white hair.
Becker, 55, sat down with German TV presenter Steven Gatjen for the hour long interview.
In the interview Becker says: “You are nobody in prison. You are a number. Mine was A2923EV. I was a number. And they don’t give a f*** who you are.”
He adds: I think I rediscovered the person I used to be. I’ve learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one. But the whole thing taught me something important and good. And some things happen for a good reason.”
Speaking of the morning he was deported he says: “I sat on the edge of my bed from six in the morning and hoped that the cell door would open.
“They came at half past seven, unlocked themselves and asked: Are you ready? I said, “Let’s go!’ I had already packed everything.”
British broadcasters are also said to be keen on the interview with the show being distributed in London through Red Arrow Productions with an insider saying: “There has been considerable interest and talks are ongoing but any announcement would come from the channels.”
In the pictures released ahead of the broadcast Becker appears thinner and his hair is longer and he is dressed in a black top.
He tells how he feared being sent to a shared cell with ‘rapists and murderers’ after being initially sent to Category B HMP Wandsworth following his conviction.
He was then moved to the Category C HMP Huntercombe prison in Oxfordshire for the remainder of his time in jail before being released and flown back to Germany on a private jet by the TV station.
There has been a bitter backlash against the decision to pay £435,000 for the interview with viewers complaining to the TV station and on social media.
A hard-hitting editorial in the respected Westfalsiche Rundschau slammed the TV station and said: “Boris Becker is not a hero but a convicted criminal.
“It’s perverse how a criminal is courted here in the media in Germany and millions thrown at him.
“Any honest law-abiding person would just shake their head.” A spokesperson for Sat1 told MailOnline they would not discuss the fee saying: “Trust is a valuable asset in cooperation and this includes Sat1 not quoting from contracts.”
While Becker’s lawyer Christian-Oliver Moser would only say cryptically in an email: “My client does not receive any money to talk about his crimes.”
Besides the German television interview Becker has also signed a contract with Apple TV+ and several book deals are in the pipeline, as well as a lucrative job with his home country’s tennis federation.
Bankrupt Becker is banned from doing business in Germany until 2031 because of the bankruptcy proceedings against him, but he will funnel the goldmine earnings through a company set up by his girlfriend Lilian de Carvalho Montiero.
The high-flying financial risk analyst was by his side for the trial earlier this year at Southwark and is believed to be with him now in Germany.
She has set up a UK company called BFB Enterprises – Boris Franz Becker – and it will allow him to keep the money he makes although creditors in Germany are said to be looking at how to get their hands on it.
Father of five Becker was found guilty of hiding £2.5 million of assets to avoid paying debts at his trial in Southwark and was freed early under a special Home Office arrangement for foreign prisoners.
Becker won his first Wimbledon title in 1985 as a 17-year-old and went on to win it twice more as well as the US Open once and the Australian Open twice, earning more than $25 million in prize money on his 15-year career.
Before he left Huntercombe last week he gave away his clothes, including a baseball cap, flip flops, bathrobe and T-shirt to inmates taking with him only pictures of his family. – Mailonline
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