Iconic Wimbledon presenter Sue Barker has taken aim at former boyfriend Cliff Richard over previous comments the singer has made about their relationship. In 1982, when former French Open champion Barker was still playing professionally, the pair had a whirlwind four-month romance that was widely covered by the media.

The pair were famously pictured holding hands at SW19 and Richard even flew to Denmark to watch her in one tournament.

But their relationship wasn’t to last, with Richard, now 83, later candidly admitting he considered asking Barker to marry him before changing his mind.

“I seriously contemplated asking her to marry me,” he said in 2008. “But in the end I realised that I didn’t love her quite enough to commit the rest of my life to her.”

Barker, who in 2022 stepped down as lead presenter for the BBC at Wimbledon, would go on to marry landscape gardener Lance Tankard in 1988. The pair are still together and live in the Cotswolds village of Stanton in Gloucestershire.

And the 69-year-old has now revealed she and Richard fell out over his claims. Conceding she was ‘hurt’ by his implication, she told The Telegraph that her husband had also resented the interviews given by the music star.

“The only thing we have fallen out about is the fact that he kept harping on about me in interviews, ‘I didn’t love her enough to propose’, and so forth,” she said. “I really enjoyed our early friendship.

“But the hurt that came with all his talk, not just for me, but for Lance, who’s been constantly reminded why someone else wouldn’t marry his wife, is something that is just not fair.”

Barker remains revered for her television work, which included presenting A Question of Sport for 24 years. She first appeared on the Beeb’s Wimbledon coverage in 1993.