Judy Murray only competed on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ to rid her of the "nightmare pushy mother" perception.
The 57-year-old tennis coach – who is the daughter of professional tennis players Jamie and Andy Murray – has admitted she only took part in the popular dance competition in 2014, which saw her paired with dance expert Anton du Beke, because she wanted to boost her confidence and to change people’s opinions of her.
Speaking about the programme, which saw her knocked out in week eight, to Good Housekeeping magazine, she said: "[‘Strictly’] helped a lot because, up until that point, you get used to seeing horrible pictures of yourself in the paper portraying you as grotesque or aggressive.
"It helped me to stop feeling that everyone thought I was a nightmare pushy mother."
And Judy’s experience on the show has enabled her to open up about the negative views and unpleasant experiences she has previously been subjected to, which has seen her parental skills slammed on public displays.
Speaking about the negative views people had of her, she said: "I was buying milk in my local shop when I saw a newsagent’s billboard saying ‘Boris Becker tells Andy to ditch his mum’. I was so embarrassed, I turned around and went straight home.
"I thought ‘People will think he knows what’s he’s talking about. She must be a nightmare’. He would have no thought at all about the impact that would have on me."
And Judy has also recalled a time she was slated for her appearance at a star-studded bash, which came as a huge blow to her and led her to hide in toilet cubicles until she was called through to sit down at future events.
She explained: "I was dreading going up, but Andy wasn’t in the country and it’s very rude if there’s no one to collect the award.
"The presenter actually said on stage: ‘Couldn’t he [Andy] have bought you something decent to wear?’ After that, I vowed never to get caught out again. I turned down most things, as I was too self-conscious and I didn’t want to risk getting it wrong again.
"If I couldn’t get out of going, I would sit in the loo with the door shut until they called everyone through. It’s not my world. I didn’t have money for clothes. I had no interest in dressing up. It was horrible."
Judy Murray competed on Strictly Come Dancing to shake ‘nightmare pushy mother’ image
