Barker headed up the BBC Wimbledon coverage for 30 years.
After being at the forefront of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage for three decades, Sue Barker has admitted that she would still return to the BBC, saying that she “didn’t want to leave” her former role in the first place.
Barker made a surprise appearance at this year’s tournament to interview Andy Murray on Centre Court to mark his emotional farewell from this year’s Wimbledon and his retirement from the sport.
Greeted with rapturous applause, it was clear the crowds had missed Barker – but could she be making a return to presenting the anticipated summer tennis tournament?
Speaking to The Mirror, Barker admitted: “Yes, I would. I loved it. I loved the people and I didn’t want to leave.”
She continued: “But you start hearing rumours of what is happening and [the BBC] obviously wants the next generation, and when you start hearing those rumours you think, ‘Maybe it’s time to get out while they still want me rather than being shoved out of the back door.’
“The sacking from A Question Of Sport hurt so much that I thought, ‘I don’t want to go through that again.’ I wanted to get out at the top. We are doing the A Question Of Sport theatre show next year. I have my WhatsApp group with Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson. We’ll be friends for life.”
Barker left A Question of Sport in 2020 after the BBC’s plans to revamp the quiz show, an exit decision that Barker later admitted that the BBC could have “handled better”. It was because of that that Barker then stepped down from her Wimbledon post two years later.
A Question of Sport has since been cancelled by the BBC due to “funding challenges”, it was announced last December, after Paddy McGuinness took over from Barker in the lead presenting role.
But it was also her informed commentary at Wimbledon after her own impressive tennis career that has been sorely missed on television screens. It was an emotional goodbye for Barker at the time, who was teary as she presented her final segments back in 2022.
Since then, the Wimbledon highlights show and live coverage has been spearheaded by Clare Balding and Qasa Alom.
Speaking to The Telegraph just a couple of weeks ago, Barker also opened up about her decision to exit the BBC’s Wimbledon role, saying: “I just sensed that, as you get older, you’ve got not many years left. And when you’re hearing that they’re having meetings about who’s to replace you…
“Although they offered me a contract, I suddenly thought over those three years [on the contract extension], will it be a case of, ‘We’ll just diminish Sue’s role a little so that the transition is slightly easier.’ And I didn’t want to be diminished. I’d rather go out doing the top job.
“So, maybe it came a couple of years before I was ready to do it. But in hindsight, it was absolutely the right time. And I couldn’t have picked a better year.”
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