Sunday 18 September 2022 12:08 AM Sue Barker's pregnant mother threw herself downstairs and drank gin to try and ... trends now
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Sue Barker has revealed she was an unplanned baby and that in a bid to terminate the pregnancy, her mother 'drank a lot of gin and bounced down the stairs'.
On Radio 4's Desert Island Discs today, the former British tennis champion, 66, says that her parents were in shock at having to provide for a third child.
She adds: 'My dad particularly, he worked really hard, but they had just budgeted for two kids and they didn't have a lot of money left over. Then, a few months after my brother was born, suddenly my mum Betty was pregnant again.
'She apparently drank a lot of gin and bounced down the stairs one time. She always said to me, 'I didn't want you. I feel so bad about it.' '
Despite her late mother's confession, Barker, who grew up in Paignton, Devon, says she was extremely close to her parents who supported her tennis career despite their financial worries.
CLOSE: Sue with her mother Betty, who lived to 100 despite her lifestyle
She says: 'My mum and I had the most wonderful relationship, even though they cut corners, which is why I really salute them in
