Judy Murray: I can’t wear vest tops … my arms are too wobbly
SHE appeared confident in her body when she slipped into slinky outfits for Strictly Come Dancing four years ago.
But Judy Murray has revealed she became self- conscious when she realised she had begun to develop ‘bingo wings’ – wobbly flesh on the backs of the upper arms that afflicts most women of a certain age.
The 58-year- old mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray said she was horrified when she saw how her arms wobbled in TV footage of her clapping for her sons at the Wimbledon championships.
Mrs Murray said she has had to accept being focused on by the cameras since Andy started on his path to fame and glory as an 18-year-old at SW19.
‘For me I came into the spotlight at Wimbledon 2005,’ she said. ‘And I was sort of picked out by association, being in the
‘Everything wobbles in slow motion’
player box. The cameras and the commentators need something to talk about.
‘They find you, you’re new, you’re an unusual dynamic, you’re a mother of sons, which is quite unusual in a top sport. And you’re picked out in a way you wouldn’t be in any other sport.’
Down the years, she realised that the coverage did not always show her in a flattering light. ‘I discovered things like the highlights at Wimbledon, I would be [shown] clapping … in slow motion,’ she said.
‘I’m not exactly big but everything wobbles in slow motion, especially if you’re wearing a vest top.
‘So I come out for the next match and I’m doing the sea lion thing. And I’m going, “I’m never wearing a vest top ever in my life again”.’ These days, however, Mrs Murray will sometimes still wear sleeveless tops and dresses at tournaments – but is more careful how she applauds.
‘You’re just learning by mistakes. Nobody prepares you for it, nobody holds your hand and says, “This is likely to happen”,’ she told an event in London to promote the paperback edition of her memoir Knowing The Score. The former tennis coach revealed that she taught her sons the basics of the sport with balloons and through impromptu games on the kitchen table with a ping-pong ball.
It clearly worked – Andy, 31, has won three men’s singles Grand Slams, including two Wimbledon titles, while Jamie, 32, has won five Grand Slam doubles titles.