Former tennis player and television presenter Sue Barker has opened up about her failed relationship with pop star Sir Cliff Richard.
The pair met after Sir Cliff made contact with Sue after spotting Shadows bandmates Hank Marvin and Brian Bennett celebrating with her after a tennis tournament win in Brighton in 1981.
In the phone call Cliff invited her to attend a forthcoming concert by the band and after spending a 'really nice night' at the Hammersmith Odeon, Sue flew out to Japan.
"When we arrived at the hotel in Tokyo, there was a telegram from Cliff, wishing me all the best in my matches and hoping to see me again. So I knew he was keen," Sue writes in her new book, revealed by MailOnline.
"From Tokyo, I flew on to Australia and then to the United States. Cliff and I had a few chats on the phone, mostly about tennis."
Around six months later Cliff called again to arrange their second meeting - at an exhibition match Sue was due to play in Denmark.
After spending further time together at Wimbledon, Sue revealed that the Press picked up on their developing friendship and went 'crazy', attention which she 'hated'.
However, former A Question of Sport host Sue continued: "I have to say being in Cliff’s company was a lot of fun. He got on well with my family and friends. They were all impressed by his behaviour with fans — he never flinched when he was approached in public, and was always happy to do a personalised autograph.
"My parents, however, were wary. They didn’t like the age difference of 16 years — I was 25, Cliff was 41 — and Dad warned me it could become a problem as we got older."
By the summer of 1982 Sue was troubled by a knee injury that had resulted in a poor performance at Wimbledon.
Forced to miss the US Open, she remained at her Wimbledon flat with Jill, who she explained was 'dating Cliff’s housemate Bill Latham' and using the flat while the pair went on a 'two‑week guys’ holiday to Spain or to Cliff’s house in Portugal'.
It was during this time that the relationship cooled, however, with Sue writing that Cliff got one of his friends to call Sue to break off the relationship.
After she had overcome the anger and upset caused by the 'break-up', some time later Cliff offered an olive branch out of the blue, with Sue revealing that he said he 'missed me' before the pair began 'going out for dinner' again.
However after a brief period in which Sue 'hoped something might be rekindled', she soon became aware that they were only ever going to be friends.
Another year passed in which the Press continued to paint them as a couple, Sue said their meetings became much less frequent.
As life went on she became 'upset' as Cliff continued 'harping on' about her in interviews, with lines such as 'I didn't love her enough to propose'.
Sue was later angered a day after her marriage to husband Lance Tankard, as Cliff gave an interview outlining 'Why I Couldn’t Marry Sue', and over the years the Summer Holiday singer has continued to mention her in interviews.
Closing the chapter, Sue said it looked 'silly' that he was still even discussing the relationship that was effectively not much more than friendship and that, in hindsight, she wouldn't have gone near the singer if she'd known it would still be a talking point four decades on.
