Drinking problems, TV insults and police knocking at the front door (again)… how broke Boris Becker’s split from his model wife became the most bitter celebrity break-up
This week the battle between tennis ace Boris Becker and his estranged model wife Lilly took an unpleasant turn when cops were called again
AFTER a romp with a model and a subsequent love child tore his first marriage apart and landed him a £13m divorce bill, you'd have thought Boris Becker's second crack at settling down would be less eventful.
But the 50-year-old German tennis ace has once again found himself on the cusp of a messy, bitter and very public divorce, which is at risk of being repossessed to pay off some of Boris' debts.
While high-profile marriage breakdowns often play out behind closed doors, with both parties keeping their animosity under wraps, Boris and his estranged wife Lilly have talked very candidly about each other.
The couple announced their spilt in May after nine years together, following Boris being declared bankrupt and Lilly turning to the bottle.
But this week the battle has taken a particularly unpleasant turn as cops were once again called to his £5m London home, following an "ongoing civil dispute" while Lilly tried to move out.
This is the second time they've needed police assistance within a few weeks, after Boris rang them when Lilly allegedly ripped photos of them off the walls of their Wimbledon mansion.
Friends reportedly said: “He has become morose and a bit of an old man. It was 'night and day' compared to what he was like when Lilly met him, and she wanted out."
"I turned to vodka. I was smoking a pack a day. Boris was going through a bad time in his way, so he didn’t notice. We disconnected and went our own ways."
After a while, Lilly realised her boozing was taking its toll. She ditched the vodka and late nights, but it served as a clear sign that something was very wrong.
She added: “We did couples’ therapy. It was something we never thought we would have to do. It helped. We did an hour a day for five days a week. It was nice to have the input from someone on the outside who doesn’t know you and isn’t biased.”
Plagued by health woes
Lilly has recently been battling serious health problems, which can only have exacerbated the stress of Boris' financial woes.
When things were still going well, the pair had hoped to have another baby, but nothing happened.
Then Lilly started getting cramps so bad she couldn't walk, and eventually collapsed from the pain while she was at home.
This led her to a gynaecologist, who diagnosed with endometriosis and discovered a cyst which had to be removed.
After a successful operation last year, Lilly is doing well. Her relationship, however, looks like it's at the Do Not Resuscitate stage.
Last ditch-therapy
Lilly had been spending more time in her native Netherlands before the bankruptcy, and friends say the marriage was in trouble before then.
In March last year the pair started going to relationship therapy in a desperate, last-ditch bid to save the marriage.
Lilly said: "It was something we never thought we would have to do. It helped.
"We did an hour a day for five days a week. It was nice to have the input from someone on the outside who doesn’t know you and isn’t biased."
However, the cracks in their relationship ran too deep, and before long the distance between the pair grew once more.
After his wedding to Lilly, Boris offered some sage and self-aware words of wisdom: “There comes a time in every man’s life when he needs to settle down,” he said. “In my case, again.”
Perhaps the three-time Wimbledon winner will find that it's third time lucky with marriages too.