Judy Murray spoke at Good Housekeeping Live, in partnership with Dyson, all about her first novel and how her former Strictly Come Dancing partner inspired her to write it.
Judy was in conversation with Good Housekeeping Features Director, Jackie Brown, during the event and revealed that her new novel, The Wild Card, had been inspired by her former Strictly partner, Anton Du Beke.
The professional dancer has written novels set in the world of ballroom, and he encouraged Judy to write her own about the world of tennis, she revealed.
She explained how he sent her the proof copy of one of his books to look at and said, "Have a read of that partner, let me know what you think." Judy said she returned it with detailed notes, as she's a stickler for grammar. "He said, 'Could you not have just said, well done Anton?' I told him, well you asked!" she joked.
Judy's first novel centres around a tennis star called Abigail, and draws on her own career as a tennis coach as well as experiences with the media and celebrity, following the attention around her sons, tennis players Andy Murray and Jamie Murray.
The Wild Card: The captivating, uplifting and addictive summer read you don’t want to miss in 2023!
Judy explained that she also saw the book "as an opportunity to raise awareness of the haves and the have nots and the abuse of power between players and coaches".
Judy stressed how the financial pressure of reaching the top of the tennis game can exclude many young players and how she has been fighting for women and girls in the game, through initiatives such as her Miss-Hits Tennis for Girls programme.
During the chat, Judy explained how difficult some of the press attention was, particularly in the early days of Andy's career, saying, "no one prepared for us for that." She also recalled Andy's first Wimbledon match on centre-court when she noticed Sean Connery in the royal box.
"I had one eye on Sean Connery and one eye on the match," she said. "I thought, James Bond is watching my boy!"
![from monumental television frauds sr1pictured: jodie whittaker as sam suranne jones as bert this photograph is (c) itv plc/ monumental television and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or itv plc. this photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by itv plc picture desk. this photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of itv picture desk. full terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/termsfor further information please contact:michael.taiwo1@itv.com](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/frauds-sr1-first-look-03-6891d81c2d536.jpg?crop=0.428xw:0.643xh;0.0641xw,0.116xh&resize=360:* "©ITV")
