Wimbledon icon Sue Barker appears to have revealed who’ll be taking over from her on the BBC.
Sue spoke about who will be fronting the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon in 2023 at an awards ceremony earlier this week.
Back in the summer, Sue presented the final Wimbledon tournament. Sue had been fronting the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon for 29 years, beginning in 1993.
However, after 29 years, she hung up her microphone for the last time following the Men’s final back in July.
Now, the former tennis legend has seemingly let slip who will be replacing her as the BBC’s Wimbledon presenter in 2023.
Who will replace Sue Barker at Wimbledon in 2023?
Sue won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BT Sport Action Woman Awards this week – and in her acceptance speech spoke of her replacement.
“I just want to say, leaving Wimbledon, it’s incredibly… I’ve loved it all my life,” she said.
“I know I’m leaving it in the safest hands, it’s absolutely wonderful to leave it with Clare [Balding],” she revealed.
“But also Clare, this year at Wimbledon, myself, you and Isa Guha. To have three women presenting Wimbledon for the first time ever.”
Fans react to Clare Balding
Upon hearing the news, tennis fans took to Twitter to react. The news has divided opinion.
“Claire is amazing and the logical choice,” one said of the 51-year-old replacing Sue.
“Course she is – obvious choice!” another tweeted.
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“If it’s true then great,” a third said of the news. “Claire is one of the best TV presenters for sport on BBC.”
However, other fans weren’t as enthused.
“Should be a former player who knows what they are talking about,” one fan grumbled.
“No disrespect, but Clare Balding is in everything! I’ll miss Sue Barker presenting Wimbledon, Billie Jean King describing her as, ‘one of us’. I love to see women succeed, but how many shows must Mrs. Balding present?” another wrote.
Sue Barker slams BBC
Sue’s Wimbledon slip-up comes not long after she hit out at the BBC for their handling of her exit from A Question of Sport.
The former tennis star hosted A Question of Sport for 24 years before she stepped down in September 2020.
However, during an interview on BBC Breakfast in September, Sue revealed that she hadn’t stepped down.
In fact, the BBC reportedly had let her go. However, they reportedly wanted her to say she was leaving on her own accord.
“It is such a shame because, I have to say, that the BBC had told us we were going,” she said.
“They wanted to refresh the programme and that is absolutely fine. Everyone has the right to do that. We don’t own the programme,” she continued.
She then went on to say that she had an “amazing 24 years” as the host.
“I think we regret the way it was handled, I think if we look back on it we could have handled it better. I think the BBC could have handled it better,” she added.
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