'Being engaged to Boris Becker was like a fairytale until I read in ...
![Being engaged to Boris Becker was like a fairytale until I read in](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=%2Fuploads%2Fnews%2F54%2F5412%2F8%2F5412861-being-engaged-to-boris-becker-was-like-a-fairytale-until-i-read-in.jpg&w=750&hash=5a510f776aa69924778441e1bc7783e4)
- Boris Becker and Alessandra Meyer Wolden, then just 24, were engaged in 2008
- She told an ITV documentary about the disastrous end of their relationship
By Stewart Carr
Published: 12:10 GMT, 7 February 2024 | Updated: 13:50 GMT, 7 February 2024
The former fiancée of tennis star Boris Becker told an ITV documentary how the tennis star 'threw her under the bus' - as she found out through the tabloids that their union was over.
Alessandra Meyer Wolden lifted the lid on the disastrous end of their 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 just 24 when she became an item with Becker in the summer of 2008, while he was 40.
Ms Meyer Wolden described how the beginning of the relationship seemed 'like a fairytale' and he proposed to her on a romantic getaway to Sardinia.
![Becker proposed to his 24-year-old girlfriend Alessandra Meyer-Wolden in 2008 during a holiday on the Italian island of Sardinia - but the relationship quickly soured](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961621-13055675-Becker_proposed_to_his_24_year_old_girlfriend_Alessandra_Meyer_W-m-20_1707307539239.jpg&w=728&hash=1127223beaf71310cf10fdb0c1baf273)
![Becker proposed to his 24-year-old girlfriend Alessandra Meyer-Wolden in 2008 during a holiday on the Italian island of Sardinia - but the relationship quickly soured](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961621-13055675-Becker_proposed_to_his_24_year_old_girlfriend_Alessandra_Meyer_W-m-20_1707307539239.jpg&w=728&hash=1127223beaf71310cf10fdb0c1baf273)
Becker proposed to his 24-year-old girlfriend Alessandra Meyer-Wolden in 2008 during a holiday on the Italian island of Sardinia - but the relationship quickly soured
![Meyer Wolden said the relationship in 2008 felt 'like a fairytale' at first, but she soon found out Becker's private life 'was a mess'](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961641-13055675-image-m-22_1707307557308.jpg&w=728&hash=8e2adfbb9d6d87d93e665dfb60131e2e)
![Meyer Wolden said the relationship in 2008 felt 'like a fairytale' at first, but she soon found out Becker's private life 'was a mess'](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961641-13055675-image-m-22_1707307557308.jpg&w=728&hash=8e2adfbb9d6d87d93e665dfb60131e2e)
Meyer Wolden said the relationship in 2008 felt 'like a fairytale' at first, but she soon found out Becker's private life 'was a mess'
![The couple pictured during Oktoberfest 2008 - shortly before the end of their relationship](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961637-13055675-image-m-43_1707308290195.jpg&w=728&hash=ad55190a74b49beeda46fa558f1359cd)
![The couple pictured during Oktoberfest 2008 - shortly before the end of their relationship](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961637-13055675-image-m-43_1707308290195.jpg&w=728&hash=ad55190a74b49beeda46fa558f1359cd)
The couple pictured during Oktoberfest 2008 - shortly before the end of their relationship
![Ms Meyer Wolden's father Axel had been the tennis star's manager in the 1980s and 90s and she says she 'felt safe' with him at the beginning of their relationship](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961635-13055675-image-a-44_1707308335762.jpg&w=728&hash=4b34a994e39c38c8183bcd14416071cc)
![Ms Meyer Wolden's father Axel had been the tennis star's manager in the 1980s and 90s and she says she 'felt safe' with him at the beginning of their relationship](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961635-13055675-image-a-44_1707308335762.jpg&w=728&hash=4b34a994e39c38c8183bcd14416071cc)
Ms Meyer Wolden's father Axel had been the tennis star's manager in the 1980s and 90s and she says she 'felt safe' with him at the beginning of their relationship
![Ms Meyer Wolden lifted the lid on the disastrous end of her relationship with the tennis star in the second part of ITV's Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall, which airs next Tuesday](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961567-13055675-Now_aged_40_Ms_Meyer_Wolden_lifted_the_lid_on_the_disastrous_end-m-41_1707308140066.jpg&w=728&hash=d3fbaa975b91ba2753ad48a30956d0ed)
![Ms Meyer Wolden lifted the lid on the disastrous end of her relationship with the tennis star in the second part of ITV's Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall, which airs next Tuesday](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80961567-13055675-Now_aged_40_Ms_Meyer_Wolden_lifted_the_lid_on_the_disastrous_end-m-41_1707308140066.jpg&w=728&hash=d3fbaa975b91ba2753ad48a30956d0ed)
Ms Meyer Wolden lifted the lid on the disastrous end of her relationship with the tennis star in the second part of ITV's Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall, which airs next Tuesday
![Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall will be aired next Tuesday at 9pm on ITV (Pictured: Boris Becker at Southwark Crown Court with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro)](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80929467-13055675-Becker_found_himself_in_an_inescapable_hole_of_debt_and_was_decl-a-24_1707307630816.jpg&w=728&hash=6c45085fa49dc82e97af6919ec4fb427)
![Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall will be aired next Tuesday at 9pm on ITV (Pictured: Boris Becker at Southwark Crown Court with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro)](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F07%2F12%2F80929467-13055675-Becker_found_himself_in_an_inescapable_hole_of_debt_and_was_decl-a-24_1707307630816.jpg&w=728&hash=6c45085fa49dc82e97af6919ec4fb427)
Boris Becker: The Rise and Fall will be aired next Tuesday at 9pm on ITV (Pictured: Boris Becker at Southwark Crown Court with partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro)
However, things soured when she fell 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, she says Becker went to German tabloid Bild Zeitung and announced he had been dumped by text, blindsiding his young fiancee.
Ms Meyer-Wolden said: 'In my mind, at 24 years old, this was only about ten years after my father had passed...I felt safe.
'And because in the back of my mind, you know, I always sort of had my father and him trusting Boris and treating Boris like family.
'[I thought] maybe this is where I'm supposed to be. Maybe you know, this is the crazy love story with all this history... the happy ending.
'The story was... it was like a fairytale.'
'I knew Boris was Boris but I had no idea what came with it. His personal life was a mess. There were divorces, there were children, there were breakups.
'We had a trip to Miami before our breakup, in which we had spent time with his children, and I got very sick. But Boris was not happy with that, and all of a sudden, he was not taking my phonecalls and he started acting strange.
'I didn't know where he was. So of course I called and of course I messaged. The message that I wrote to Boris said: "Well, if you're not answering and you're not communicating with me, I guess our engagement is off?"
'He took that message, took it totally out of context, and with that message went to the Bild Zeitung (tabloid newspaper) and said, "look, this horrible, young 24-year-old girl broke up with me Boris Becker over text".
'The way that i found out about our engagement being off was through the headline in Bild Zeitung of Boris portraying himself as a victim, cleaning up his image so that he would look good
'To this day, I've never spoken to him again. So he threw me under the bus.'
The documentary also details the breakup of Becker's first marriage in the 1990s. Becker notoriously got model Angela Ermakova pregnant during an amorous encounter in the cupboard of London restaurant Nobu - just as his wife Barbara was in hospital ensuring a difficult pregnancy with their second son.
Barbara later filed for divorce in Miami, where she was able to claim higher alimony and child support for herself and their two sons. Ermakova gave birth to his daughter Anna and the story of their union was reported in a News of the World scoop.
Becker was jailed for two-and-a-half years in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act, and acquitted of a further 20 counts at Southwark Crown Court.
After burning through his multi-million pound fortune, Becker found himself in an inescapable hole of debt and was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than £3million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.
In attempt to hide £2.5million in assets while bankrupt, Becker transferred €427,00 (£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 in a £1million property in his home town of Leimen, Germany, hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 - worth £1.1million with interest - and concealed 75,000 shares in a tech firm, valued at £66,000.
But he continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, bought online groceries at Ocado and treated himself to designer Ralph Lauren clothes, jurors had heard.
![Becker was jailed for two-and-a-half years in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F19%2F80929437-13052557-Becker_was_jailed_for_two_and_a_half_years_in_April_2022_after_t-m-22_1707247337414.jpg&w=728&hash=f59fdc76cf6603e7bba7d159621f9d5a)
![Becker was jailed for two-and-a-half years in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F19%2F80929437-13052557-Becker_was_jailed_for_two_and_a_half_years_in_April_2022_after_t-m-22_1707247337414.jpg&w=728&hash=f59fdc76cf6603e7bba7d159621f9d5a)
Becker was jailed for two-and-a-half years in April 2022 after the tennis champion was found guilty of four offences under the Insolvency Act
![Becker continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, bought online groceries at Ocado and treated himself to designer Ralph Lauren clothes, jurors had heard](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F19%2F80929459-13052557-Becker_continued_to_spend_hundreds_of_pounds_at_luxury_departmen-m-23_1707247347403.jpg&w=728&hash=e69c2f9e4a57a7e80f0e0bea0523fe6f)
![Becker continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, bought online groceries at Ocado and treated himself to designer Ralph Lauren clothes, jurors had heard](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F19%2F80929459-13052557-Becker_continued_to_spend_hundreds_of_pounds_at_luxury_departmen-m-23_1707247347403.jpg&w=728&hash=e69c2f9e4a57a7e80f0e0bea0523fe6f)
Becker continued to spend hundreds of pounds at luxury department store Harrods, bought online groceries at Ocado and treated himself to designer Ralph Lauren clothes, jurors had heard
He also allegedly hid 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 removal of property regarding 426,930 Euros (£350,000) to nine recipients including his ex-wives Barbara and Sharlely 'Lilly' Becker.
He was also convicted of trying to conceal the ownership of his £1.8million villa 'Im Schilling' in his native Leimen, Germany, as well as his ownership of 75,000 Data Corp shares.
Jurors also found him guilty of concealing a loan of 825,000 Euros (£688,000) owed by him to the Bank Alpinum of Lichtenstein.
But he was cleared 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 previously attempted tax evasion worth £1.4million in Germany in 2002.
Each count carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. This afternoon, Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced the six-time Grand Slam champion to 30 months' imprisonment, of which he will serve at least half.
Referring to Becker's previous conviction, the judge said this afternoon: 'You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor.'
And she told father-of-four Becker: 'I take into account what has been described as your "fall from grace". You have lost your career and reputation and all of your property as a result of your bankruptcy.
'You have not shown remorse, acceptance of your guilt and have sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy. While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.'
As he was led away, Becker was red-faced and appeared to struggle with his overnight bag. His girlfriend Lilian De Carvalho Monteiro blew him a kiss before he disappeared out of the court to the cells below.
In an interview with 5 Live Breakfast, the three-time Wimbledon champion said incarceration was a 'real punishment' but that he had discovered that he is a 'survivor'.
Where is Boris Becker now?
Boris was released from jail in December 2022 on the early release scheme after spending eight months of his sentence in Huntercomb prison, Oxon.
The tennis legend was accepted on to the scheme which allows 'any foreign national serving a fixed sentence who is liable for removal from the UK to be removed from prison and deported up to 12 months before the earliest release point of their sentence'.
Becker was then deported to his homeland, Germany, where he has snapped up a new job as the face of a new German television advertising campaign, selling used motorhomes.
Becker was pictured last year in a shoot for Wohn Mobil Park, posing in front of a camper with the line: 'Visit somewhere else more often: exactly my thing.'
Visit also translates as 'serve' from the German.
![Boris Becker appears in an advertising campaign, selling motorhomes in his native Germany](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F18%2F77778737-13052557-Boris_Becker_appears_in_an_advertising_campaign_selling_motorhom-a-7_1707245382046.jpg&w=728&hash=a977a63a525e5087675487f1251668df)
![Boris Becker appears in an advertising campaign, selling motorhomes in his native Germany](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F18%2F77778737-13052557-Boris_Becker_appears_in_an_advertising_campaign_selling_motorhom-a-7_1707245382046.jpg&w=728&hash=a977a63a525e5087675487f1251668df)
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 vs Boris Becker' Berlinale International Film Festival last year](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F18%2F68046477-13052557-Boris_Becker_is_pictured_with_his_partner_Lilian_de_Carvalho_Mon-a-8_1707245388754.jpg&w=728&hash=0340faa0b5764f471eef55f10e038edd)
![Boris Becker is pictured with his partner, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, at the premiere of 'Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker' Berlinale International Film Festival last year](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2F1s%2F2024%2F02%2F06%2F18%2F68046477-13052557-Boris_Becker_is_pictured_with_his_partner_Lilian_de_Carvalho_Mon-a-8_1707245388754.jpg&w=728&hash=0340faa0b5764f471eef55f10e038edd)
Boris Becker is pictured with his partner, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, at the premiere of 'Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker' Berlinale International Film Festival last year
Since his release, Becker has made a number of appearances as he looks to rebuild his public persona.
On Thursday, November 19, he announced his return to tennis as he revealed he was coaching the hugely talented Dane Holger Rune.
But, as the terms of his release from prison state he is banned from entering the UK - the icon was barred from Wimbledon this summer and will be still this year.
With the help of business-savvy partner and risk analyst Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, 34, Becker has secured a string of impressive gigs in spite of the conviction.
Lilian is the official managing director of BFB GmbH (Boris Franz Becker), and is now steering Boris's comeback course after his split from recent advisors.
In February last year, the German took to the stage at a film festival in Berlin to promote his film 'Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker', a documentary covering his triumphs, failures and everything in between.
In the film Becker is seen solemnly accepting his conviction and wrestling with his life's missteps.
Becker then pocketed a massive fee for doing a TV interview with German broadcaster SAT 1., chose to live in a boutique hotel, and soon landed a cushy job as a commentator on Eurosport.
Boris Becker: The rise and fall will be aired on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV.