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Make way for the Wimbledon WAGs! The glamorous (and VERY impressive) women taking SW19 by storm as they support their tennis ace partners on court

Make way for the Wimbledon WAGs! The glamorous (and VERY impressive) women taking SW19 by storm as they support their tennis ace partners on court

Daily Mail​4 days ago
As the sun rises above the perfectly green pitches in leafy south west London, the glamorous WAGS of Wimbledon are preparing for two weeks of watching their sporty partners battle it out on the centre court.
The world-famous tournament commenced on Monday, with the players and their girlfriends already sharing pictures and videos of SW19.
The tennis wives and girlfriends - or TWAGS as they have become known - are known for their glitzy, jet-setting lifestyles and are often following their boyfriends, fiancés and husbands around the globe for prestigious tournaments.
Some are even as famous as their partners in the tennis world themselves, and others have previously dated A-listers such as Jason Momoa and Timothée Chalamet.
Tommy Paul's girlfriend Paige Lorenze has more than double the amount of followers as the athlete on Instagram and has launched her own business while also raking in extra cash through brand deals and collaborations.
Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz and girlfriend Morgan Riddle are often dubbed the 'tennis Posh and Becks' with a modern twist - they met on a dating app.
Eiza Gonzalez one of the latest TWAGs to join the exclusive group, after she confirmed her relationship to Grigor Dimitrov a couple of months ago, professing her love to him online.
Paige has previously revealed that the European WAGS have their own WhatsApp group chat that they use to keep in contact with each other, with Louise Jacobi and Nina Ghaibi named as members.
Morgan Riddle
One of the most elegant and well-dressed WAGs in the stands is Morgan Riddle, who is dating Taylor Fritz.
More than 400,000 people are interested in seeing her everyday life on Instagram, where she collaborates with brands (including 'Wimbledon Threads', an insta-series she launched last year in collaboration with the Grand Slam).
She was also once dubbed 'the most famous woman in men's tennis' by the New York Times and seems to lead the WAGS through all major tournaments.
Morgan recently posted a carousel of images of her enjoying Wimbeledon with the Instagram caption: 'We are sooo back.'
She was seen sporting a tweedy baby pink belted dress with her cherry red Chanel quilted bag with a strawberry charm on it, paying credit to Wimbledon's famous fruits.
She even tucked into some herself, as she sat and watched her boyfriend on the court.
The American influencer is dating world no.13 Taylor Fritz after meeting on celebrity dating app Raya in 2020.
Morgan, 27, uses her social media pages to document private jet flights, beach holidays, city shopping trips, and courtside seats as she travels around the world supporting her sports star beau.
Her influencing career took off after she posted a TikTok asking her followers to help her choose an outfit for the Australian Open in 2022, gaining 1.5 million views.
Another one gained seven million views with the caption: 'When you start dating a professional tennis player and literally all you do is travel the world, dress cute, drink champagne and go to Wimbledon.'
Now, she and Fritz have become known as the 'Posh and Becks' of Tennis, and she says she spends around 40 weeks per year travelling as she follows him to major tournaments around the world.
Morgan has even worked with Wimbledon itself in a 'Wimbledon threads' fashion insta-series in collaboration with the tournament.
Morgan told The Age Australia: 'I think over those last two years I've transitioned from being Taylor Fritz's girlfriend to being Morgan Riddle.'
She was born in Poland but grew up in Minnesota before moving to Los Angeles.
She graduated from New York City's Wagner College with a Bachelor's Degree in English Language and Literature in 2019 and then went on to work as a social media director for a fashion brand.
Fritz shares a son, seven, with his ex-wife Raquel Pedraza, who also played professional tennis.
Paige Lorenze
DATING TOMMY PAUL, 13th IN THE WORLD
Paige is often seen front and centre in the boxes, watching Tommy Paul battle it out on the court in some of the world's most testing competitions, such as the US Open and Wimbledon.
She joked that she was 'resuming my position as team chef,' a couple of days ago on Instagram as she posted pictures of her roasting tomatoes and cheese, seemingly cooking for Tommy and his comrades.
Paige has already uploaded snaps showing off her chic Wimbledon ensembles from the famous green seated stands, as she joked that she was 'just here to supervise' her star athlete partner.
But when she's not cheering on her boyfriend of three years, the glamorous blonde business mogul is focusing on her social media presence and her multiple businesses.
The businesswoman has spent years cultivating a following of almost one million people on Instagram, where she often shares behind the scenes pictures and videos of her appearances at matches, along with promoting her American lifestyle brand, Diary Boy and her home brand, American Charm.
Paige, who was a successful athlete in her early years, splits her time between the Big Apple and a charming home in Connecticut when she isn't with her beau traveling the world on the ATP Tour.
'Tommy continues to support me, my business Dairy Boy, and my life in Connecticut and in turn, I'm able to show my support by traveling with him and being by his side at every tournament,' she told Page Six last year.
Lorenze launched Dairy Boy, a fashion and lifestyle brand, off the back of her success as an influencer in 2021.
The brand quickly became known for its high design baseball caps, camo crewnecks, and jeans, before expanding into sweats and other apparel items.
She met Paul at the US Open in 2022 and throughout the first year of their relationship, she joined him at tournaments around the world and continued building her personal brand.
'I really poured my time into my business and I now have two horses, I live in a beautiful house, and I have an amazing boyfriend. I'm fulfilling all of my dreams,' she told Page Six last year, ahead of the couple's first anniversary.
She even has a business profile in Forbes, as well as an agent, manager, assistant, stylist and publicist to help her keep on top of her glam life.
In a chat with Interview magazine last year, Paige described Wimbledon as 'very posh' and opened up about her fashion choices at Tommy's matches.
She said: 'I got to a point where I was sort of like, 'I'm here for Tommy.' I love fashion, but I want to be comfortable at his matches. And Tommy comes first - before fashion statements.
'He is the least needy boyfriend, first of all. He's so supportive of me. He wants me to be doing what makes me happy. And as much as he wants me at every tournament, he totally understands. We just have such good communication.'
Paige described their relationship as 'really healthy' and said Tommy 'wasn't dependent on me'.
She also revealed that the European TWAGS have a WhatsApp group chat and said that although she was allowed to partake as an American, she doesn't use the app. Paige revealed that Louise Jacobi and Nina Ghaibi are in one of the groups.
Last year, Paige went viral for all the wrong reasons as she posed for photographs together when Tommy won the Queen's Club title.
After besting Lorenzo Musetti in the final, she broke the norm by joining her boyfriend on the court for a photo opportunity with the trophy.
A video of their awkward posing went viral as the influencer is seen repeatedly grabbing her boyfriend by the nape while Paul stood stiffly in front of the cameras.
Paige also dated disgraced actor Armie Hammer from September to December 2020.
The following year, she was among several women who came forward to accuse him of assault.
She alleged he used a sharp knife to cut his first initial 'A' into her skin and also repeatedly mentioned his desire to remove and eat one of her ribs.
Her other high-profile exes include NHL player Kasperi Kapanen and singer Morgan Wallen.
Nina Ghaibi
ENGAGED TO FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME, 28th IN THE WORLD
Nina Ghaibi, 24, is also not shy to show off her picturesque life, which includes walking her Pomeranian on a Moroccan beach in a bikini, jetting off to Rome and overlooking the sea at sunset on a tropical island.
The talented Croat equestrian got engaged to Canadian player Felix Auger-Aliassime in November last year, with Felix writing on Instagram: 'Couldn't have dreamt of a better forever'.
Another post showed the loved-up pair in Miami, with Felix writing: 'First date 6 years ago today in Miami and here we are 6 years later planning our wedding. Life is beautiful.'
They started dating in March 2019, however, he didn't confirm their romance until 2021 - on their second anniversary.
'I'm pretty happy our paths crossed two years ago,' he gushed at the time. 'Two years of love and happiness. To many more in the future.'
Since then, they have certainly not kept their love hidden from the public, sharing numerous cute photos and loved-up, PDA-filled snaps on both of their accounts.
In August last year, she shared a gushing tribute to her beau in honour of his birthday, writing, 'Happy, happy birthday to this li'l sunshine.
'No matter how old you get, you will always be the same cutie. Thanks for making these last years everything fun and sweet.'
The couple even attended the Met Gala together in September 2021, and they looked super glamorous on the red carpet. Nina donned a gold, shimmering dress with intricate lace details, while Felix opted for a white tuxedo.
They started dating in March 2019, however, he didn't confirm their romance until 2021 - on their second anniversary
The couple have travelled to places such as New York, Morocco, Italy and the Netherlands in their time together.
Things are clearly serious between the two as they have even started spending Christmas together each year.
In February 2023, they got their first dog together, a Pomeranian called Timmy, calling him a 'new addition to the fam'.
And while Nina has shown her support for Felix by attending his tennis matches, he has also tried Nina's sport of horse riding.
Even before meeting her partner, Nina was involved in the world of tennis, as her cousin is Australian tennis star Ajla Tomljanovic.
Louise Jacobi
DATING CAMERON NORRIE, 61st IN THE WORLD, FORMER BRITISH NO 1
Unlike the rest of the influencing WAGS, Cameron Norrie's girlfriend Louise Jacobi is more down-to-earth and prefers to live a much normal life while also enjoying the luxuries that come with being a TWAG.
The Chicago-born textiles designer is often considered Wimbledon's star's secret weapon and is spotted cheering him on from the stands each year.
Speaking to Tatler, Louise opened up about how she feels about the title 'WAG'. She said: 'I still remember the first time… I'd just started dating Cam and somebody was like, 'What's it like to be a WAG?'
'I was like, oh my god, I never thought about that… I think it's kind of ridiculous but I guess… that is what I am.'
But the English graduate has no issue with the label, saying that she has always 'embraced' becoming a WAG.
'I've worked tirelessly to try to turn around the connotations - having that title [WAG] shouldn't mean that we're any less than because we choose to support our partners,' she added.
Louise, 26, worked for Calvin Klein before joining New York-based Please Don't Touch as a textiles consultant.
However, she previously told society bible, Tatler, that being a WAG makes it 'impossible' to have a career - other than being an influencer - due to difficulties planning ahead.
Now in her fifth year on the tour, she has previously been described as a 'calm, positive impact' on Norrie by his parents.
He was previously reported to have given up on his more partying, hedonistic lifestyle to be more professional after sustaining injuries in a moped crash around eight years ago.
Louise was in the stands in October 2021 when Cameron became the first Brit to win the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
The couple - who have been dating since around 2020 - met through mutual friends in New York and now live together in Monaco.
Louise admitted she was so new to tennis when she met Cameron that she barely knew the rules.
Unlike the other WAGS, Louise chooses to keep her Instagram low-key, only posting every couple of months.
Ayan Broomfield
DATING FRANCES TIAFOE, 12th IN THE WORLD
The stunning Ayan Broomfield - who is dating Frances Tiafoe - knows the game better than anyone else as she is a tennis player herself.
The pair are childhood sweethearts after meeting as junior players, and celebrate their anniversary each year at Flushing Meadows.
It's been said that the two athletes first crossed paths at the 2015 US Open, where they were introduced by mutual friend Victoria Duval, and that their romance began shortly after that.
But it wasn't until three years later - on Valentine's Day in 2018 - that they made their relationship public.
Since then, they have certainly not tried to hide their love, as Ayan has been spotted sitting courtside and cheering Frances on from the sidelines at numerous matches over the years.
She even surprised the sports star when he faced off against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston in April 2023.
'I also want to thank my girlfriend, Ayan, who I see in the crowd.
'I didn't even know you were in Houston. I thought you were in LA,' Frances said during his victory speech following the event. 'She surprised me, that's unbelievable.'
He added on his Instagram Stories: 'Love this girl so damn much. You flew in for the final without me knowing.
'You didn't want to miss the moment. So thankful for my baby, my road dawg for real.'
Like many of the other WAGs, Ayan has built up a wealth of Instagram followers over the years, plastering her glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle all over Instagram.
She recently teamed up with New York designer Thom Browne for one of her first Wimbledon looks of the season, which consisted of argyle knee socks, a tweed blazer and a preppy skirt complete with a shirt and tie.
The TWAG also has a charitable side, as she started her own tennis-led foundation to help provide tennis athletic wear and equipment to underprivileged youth but also has provided support to women's shelters.
In January, Ayan hit headlines when she slammed the Australian Open for not having enough ethnic diversity in the crowd.
She made a video on TikTok that said: 'POV, you go to the Australian Open and don't seee any [emojis of people of colour] girls.'
The clip has attracted over 60,000 reactions and more than 1000 comments, mostly pointing out that some fans can't afford the steep prices to attend Australia's premier tennis event.
Ayan then released a second TikTok to discuss the issue, calling for POC to rally and offering to get as many free tickets together as possible to get them to the event.
'I just made a TikTok about how I was at the Australian Open, I was there to watch my boyfriend play, and I didn't really see any other women or people of colour,' she said.
'In specific, black people, but people of colour nonetheless.
'What can I tell you? TikTok pushed it to the right community. I don't know how the algorithm works, but it did its job.
'A lot of people spoke about difficulty getting tickets, the heat, not feeling like they would belong and then not knowing any black players to support.'
'So, let me see if I can help.
'First thing, tickets, I don't know how many I am going to be able to get. But if you DM me, I can see if I can try and get you a ticket to go in.
'First come, first serve, and I will see what I can do.'
Ayan, originally from Toronto, played tennis for Clemson University in South Carolina from 2016 to 2017.
She then transferred to UCLA, where she played until she graduated in 2022.
In 2019, she and her teammate Gabby Andrews won the doubles event at the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship.
Ayan is also known for stepping in as Saniyya Sidney's body double in the 2021 movie King Richard.
Saniyya portrayed acclaimed tennis legend Venus Williams in the biopic about the Williams family, which also starred Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, and Demi Singleton.
A documentary about Ayan's career, called Ayan Broomfield Tennis Story, premiered on Amazon Prime in 2019.
A synopsis reads: 'National Champion and All-American tennis star Ayan Broomfield reflects on her life in tennis, the influence of Venus and Serena Williams and the future of her professional career.'
Katie Boulter
ENGAGED TO ALEX DE MINAUR, 11th IN THE WORLD
Katie Boulter, 28, is a talented tennis player in her own right, ranking number two in Britain and 43rd in the world.
She is currently engaged to Alex de Minaur, 26, and the sporty couple are both playing at Wimbledon this year.
The tennis power couple are regularly seen supporting each other when competing and celebrated their five year anniversary in March.
In December, the duo delighted tennis fans around the world, announcing that they were engaged with a picture on Instagram.
The pair were snapped smiling and hugging, with Katie draping her arm around Alex's neck, showing she was wearing a stunning engagement ring.
'We've been keeping a small secret…' they captioned the post.
Last year was remarkable year for both stars, with Katie picking up wins in Nottingham and San Diego, while Alex was recently crowned champion at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
Both have never shied away from celebrating the other's victories in the past, with Alex , 25, having paid a nod to Katie at Wimbledon in 2022, after she bested Karolina Pliskova.
Katie is currently engaged to Alex de Minaur, 26, and the sporty couple are both playing at Wimbledon this year
During a press conference, he told reporters: 'Before we talk about my match, can we just talk about Katie Boulter today? I mean, she had a pretty good win herself.'
And after supporting each other over the past few years, the pair are quickly beginning to become two of the biggest players in the sport, considering their success on the court.
It is understood they began dating back in 2020 but officially announced their relationship on Instagram in 2021, when Katie published a one-year anniversary snap of the pair on her social media accounts.
Katie later revealed that the pair had known each other from playing on the pro tours but claimed a 6am coffee was where they first started dating.
Recounting when they first met, the 28-year-old, who is ranked No 24 on the WTA Tour, told The Age: 'We bumped into each other at six in the morning and ended up getting a coffee.
'From that moment, I knew I was in it for the long haul.'
She added: 'Growing up, I was always super-close to my grandpa: I always said to myself that if I can find someone who has half his heart, I'll be the luckiest woman in the world. I've found that person in Alex.
Katie Boulter, 28, is a talented tennis player in her own right, ranking number two in Britain and 43rd in the world
'He puts me before himself all the time and takes care of the people around him – his family and his team. He's my best example of what I want to be.'
But life in the spotlight hasn't always been easy for the tennis duo who spoke out earlier this year on how they had kept their relationship a secret from the public eye.
'Remember that time when we were having breakfast on like separate tables?' Katie asked her now fiance during an interview with Tennis TV.
'We would rock down to breakfast at different times,' Alex said.
'Different times, like 10 minutes later,' She added. 'It's so true, so people wouldn't find out.'
'It works every time,' Alex replied.
Speaking on their rivalry, Katie said: 'We take it really well.
'We do like to throw some banter each other's way, and I think we handle it that way rather than any other way.
'We know we support each other. It's such an important start to each other's years and we'll always do everything we can for our country.
'I'll be supporting him every single time from the box for the rest of the year.'
Jelena Djokovic
MARRIED TO NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 6th IN THE WORLD
Jelena, 39, is married to one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Novak Djokovic, 38, who has won a record 24 Grand Slams.
She has been his number one supporter, appearing at a number of his matches, where she is not afraid to voice her opinions on the performance of her husband.
The pair are childhood sweethearts, attending the same school in Serbia together, where they would play tennis before making their relationship official.
They went on to date each other for eight years before getting married in 2013 in Monte Carlo, where Novak was living at the time.
Despite the pair being together as Novak's career was taking off, Jelena had aspirations of her own.
She ended up going to Bocconi University in Milan, where she studied luxury brand management and now works as a humanitarian, working to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.
She is also the co-founder and global CEO of the Novak Djokivic foundation.
Jelena, 39, is married to one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Novak Djokovic, 38, who has won a record 24 Grand Slams
The pair are childhood sweethearts, attending the same school in Serbia together, where they would play tennis before making their relationship official
Speaking about the organisation to HuffPost, Jelena said Novak and his family created the organisation in 2007 to help disadvantaged children in Serbia by giving them access to early childhood education.
The Serbian has also tried her hand in modelling. Back in 2013, she was revealed as the face of lingerie and swimwear brand Figleaves.
The beautiful couple share two children together, welcoming their first son Stefan on October 22, 2014. Jelena was pregnant with Stefan when the pair tied the knot in Monte Carlo.
Jelena gave birth to their second child in September 2017, a daughter named Tara, and the couple also share two dogs together.
The two poodles named Pierre and Tesla, and Jelena regularly shows them off on Instagram.
However, while Jelena and Novak may seem like the perfect couple, they two have their fair share of disagreements, especially when it comes to their children having mobile phones.
Previously speaking at the Davis Cup, Novak told Blic: 'My children still don't have a cell phone, my wife and I argue [about it].
'The kids complain "At school, everyone has one except us."
'It's not easy and this is reflected on other levels as well. If everyone does something, the herd behaves like this, you have to follow them.
Jelena - pictured onboard a boat - is also the co-founder and global CEO of the Novak Djokivic foundation
'Well, it doesn't have to be like that. This is where I think we differ from others, because we are stubborn and active.'
Novak claimed he was the one who was 'responsible' for their children's 'activities, sports and healthy lifestyle' when speaking to the Tennis Channel.
But after seeing Jelena's reaction to his response, he replied while smiling: 'Exactly - she's rolling her eyes right now as I'm speaking.'
'I keep reminding them of how important it is to be active and do sport, whether it's tennis, whatever it is.
'There are a lot of families and a lot of children from other players who are coming in so for them it's also a great experience.'
Eiza Gonzalez
DATING GRIGOR DIMITROV, 21st IN THE WORLD
Eiza Gonzalez's relationship with Grigor Dimitrov, 34, was revealed in May after they were seen several times on outings together.
The 36-year-old supported Dimitrov during his Mutua Madrid Open tournament, attending his match on April 26.
She reportedly sat next to Eva Longoria during the tennis match, and she kissed Grigor on the cheek when he approached her at one point.
The couple confirmed their relationship shortly after it whispers appeared in the press when Grigor shared a photo of Eiza from a David Yurman event in Miami, along with the caption, 'Are you kidding me,' plus fire and black heart emojis.
Eiza has previously dated Jason Momoa in 2022 and Timothee Chalamet in 2020
Eiza Gonzalez's relationship with Grigor Dimitrov, 34, was revealed in May after they were seen several times on outings together
She also publicly wished her new flame a happy birthday and professed her love for the tennis player, writing on Instagram in May: 'Happiest bday to the man of my dreams.
'@grigordimitrov you're one of one. You truly are my absolutely favourite human, and I can't believe I've been lucky enough to find you. You've restored so much in me I didn't think was possible.
'To the kindest most thoughtful and caring man. I admire every inch of the human you are and are becoming. I cannot wait to celebrate many many more. I love you G.'
Eiza is a Mexican actress and gained popularity for starring in the Argentine Nickelodeon teen sitcom Sueña conmigo.
She has since starred in Baby Driver, Bloodshot, Ash and Fountain of Youth.
Eiza has previously dated Jason Momoa in 2022 and Timothee Chalamet in 2020.
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Legal challenge over Wimbledon expansion set to be heard at High Court

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Australian royal prank DJs claim their bosses MADE them phone the Princess of Wales's hospital and impersonate the late Queen before nurse's suicide
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The Australian 'shock jock' behind a prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated, which led to the suicide of a nurse, claims he was pressurized into making the call by bosses. Michael Christian and 2Day FM radio co-host Mel Greig made headlines around the world on December 4, 2012 when they duped staff at King Edward VII's Hospital in London, The Telegraph reported. The duo convinved nurse Jacintha Saldanha that they were the late Queen and the then-Prince Charles checking in on the Princess of Wales, who at the time was being treated for severe morning sickness while pregnant with Prince George. Falling for their deception, Ms Saldanha disclosed some of the Princess' private medical information before transferring the call through to the ward. Humiliated by the telephone prank, the nurse - a mother to two children - later took her own life. In one of three apparent suicide notes, Ms Saldanha wrote a short letter in which she expressed her deep anger at the Australian radio presenters and blamed them for her tragic death. The nurse's death led to a huge backlash against the show and brodcaster, with its two presenters forced into hiding after receiving death threats. In a lawsuit against the station's broadcaster, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Mr Christian alleges that he was ordered to make the call by the production team only days after starting in the role. He said that the hoax call breached the Australian Communications and Media Authority code of practice and he should never have been asked to do it. Mr Christian also said that he was given insufficient support in the wake of Ms Saldanha's suicide. He claims that the company promised to provide support in the event that any of the antics on the show overstepped the boundaries. Mr Christian, who lost his job in February, accuses the organisation of turning him and Ms Greig into 'convenient fall guys and scapegoats'. Mr Christian's lawyers wrote: 'SCA did not immediately take public accountability for the incident, but rather allowed Mr Christian and Ms Greig to be left exposed to relentless public vitriol, harassment and abuse, including death threats. 'The radio presenters were left by SCA as the convenient fall guys and scapegoats for SCA management decisions and non-compliance.' Mr Christian claims that the incident severely damaged his reputation and earnings potential. He also claims that he was discouraged from pursing legal action against SCA at the time because they promised that they would help him rebuilding his reputation and career. Among Mr Christian's greivences are that SCA filed to provide sufficient mental health support or start a PR campaign to clear his name. He also claims that he was not offered promotions or pay rises to reward his loyalty for sticking with the company, and instead was slowly phased-out. 'When we thought about making a call it was going to go for 30 seconds, we were going to be hung up on, and that was it. As innocent as that,' Mr Christian told Channel Nine's A Current Affair programme less than a week after the prank broke. Describing him and his co-host as 'shattered, gutted, heartbroken', he said 'no-one could've imagined this to happen.' 'The accents were terrible. You know it was designed to be stupid. We were never meant to get that far from the little corgis barking in the background - we obviously wanted it to be a joke,' Ms Greig added. 'There's nothing that can make me feel worse than what I feel right now. And for what I feel for the family. We're so sorry that this has happened to them.' Speaking in 2014, Ms Greig revealed that her mother had received death threats, while the 2DayFM presenter herself battled depression. 'I felt like a failure as a human being,' Ms Greig said in a tearful interview with Channel Seven's Sunday Night. 'I am ashamed of myself. I should have tried harder to not let that prank call air.' At the time of Ms Saldanha's death, the Prince and Princess of Wales said they were 'deeply saddened' by her passing. For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit for details

William Kentridge on politics, South Africa and ‘our great billionaire Elon Musk'
William Kentridge on politics, South Africa and ‘our great billionaire Elon Musk'

Times

time36 minutes ago

  • Times

William Kentridge on politics, South Africa and ‘our great billionaire Elon Musk'

The great South African artist William Kentridge is tearing up pieces of paper at his kitchen table and pushing them around. He's showing me the process by which he created a group of sculptures for Yorkshire Sculpture Park. 'You play with these shapes and then' — he looks up to make sure I'm following — 'this one starts to become like a woman leaning forward. It's about letting yourself be guided by your eyes.' With a pair of old-fashioned pince-nez reading glasses dangling from his white button-up shirt, Kentridge combines the reassuring patience of a school art teacher with the dazzling intellect of an eminent philosophy professor. One moment we're tearing up paper, the next we're discussing Plato. The kitchen table we're sitting at is in his small flat opposite the British Museum, but home is South Africa, in the Johannesburg house in which he grew up and still lives. His parents were lawyers and his father, Sir Sydney Woolf Kentridge, played a leading role in some of the most significant political trials of the apartheid era, including defending Nelson Mandela in the Treason Trial, and the inquest into the death of Steve Biko. Kentridge's parents left South Africa in the 1980s but he stayed on, married and raised his three children there. Two of them now live in London and it was the birth of his first grandchild that prompted the artist and his wife, Anne, to buy the flat we're sitting in. • Read more art reviews, guides and interviews Kentridge flicks open his phone to show me a picture of him standing with a small grandson in front of a huge, twisting bronze sculpture that dwarfs them both. An invitation from Yorkshire Sculpture Park more than ten years ago pushed him into making these large works. He's known for his drawings, animated films, theatre and opera productions but he didn't see sculpture as part of his practice. 'And then I understood that it was like the puppets I've made for theatre and shadow plays, made with little wire joints so you can hinge pieces together and move them until you find the attitude you want, like this woman bending forward,' he says, pointing to the shape he's made on the table. He adds that 'this is a great exercise for the children's programme at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park because it works as well with an eight-year-old as it does with a 17-year-old or an MA student'. To understand Kentridge you need to know that he started in theatre before he began drawing. He is best known for his bold black-and-white charcoal works and animated films that reflect on the politics and history of South Africa. A fan of the Dadaists and Jonathan Swift, he runs a thread of absurdist humour through much of his work. In one of his short films being screened at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Kentridge poses astride a flimsy wooden horse. Is this a satirical reference to the number of statues of men on horseback that populate European cities? 'They're all about conquest,' he explains. 'And also people on horseback start taking on the attributes of the horse. They are sitting high up with straightened backs, so they feel grand.' Another of his animated films on display is my favourite: More Sweetly Play the Dance. This procession of figures played by actors and dancers and led by a brass band is a carnival of dance, music and grief that moves slowly from left to right across seven cinema screens in a ruined, burnt-out landscape. It was created as a memorial for ebola victims but the images are timeless, recalling medieval pilgrims or the endless stream of refugees who move across our small screens fleeing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine or Sudan. Processions are a recurring trope in Kentridge's work, which brings us back to the group of sculptures he referred to during my short art lesson. Paper Procession was a site-specific commission made for Yorkshire Sculpture Park and born from the torn-out pages of a discarded accounting book. He started with shapes cut out of paper and then transformed them into 5m-high works made from thin sheets of aluminium and steel. Coloured in red, yellow and orange, they march determinedly past a green yew hedge. 'The key was to keep the lightness of the sense of torn paper and then, using a forklift truck and all the people in my studio jumping together, bending the aluminium to give the forms the right sense of movement,' he says. • The £3 million battle to save an artwork most of us have never seen I'm struck by the image of him and his collaborators jumping together on sheets of aluminium, as if it were some absurdist theatrical performance. As a young man, Kentridge aspired to be an actor and trained at the famous Jacques Lecoq school of mime and physical theatre in Paris; he uses the techniques he learnt there in his art. 'The English tradition of theatre starts with an analysis of text and psychology,' he says. 'With physical theatre it's about movement. How does movement reveal a character's age, whether they're relaxed or tense? You reveal the psychology of a subject by what is happening in their body, and you can do the same when teaching someone to draw.' His passion for processions was inspired by works including medieval paintings of the dance against death that appeared during the plague, Goya's A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, and 'the shadows in Plato's cave'. For Plato the shadows represented ignorance, but Kentridge is sceptical about the light of knowledge freeing the prisoner, pointing out that alongside the Enlightenment came colonialism, another key theme in his work. 'There's a lot you can understand by looking at shadows,' he says. Kentridge was born in 1955 and studied politics at university in Johannesburg while taking classes in fine art and drama in the evenings. His parents had several friends who were artists 'and it made me realise that they didn't all live in Paris with a beret and palette'. His father, who is 102 and living in north London, was both encouraging and sceptical of his son's work. 'When I told him I was putting on a production of Goethe's Faustus with puppets, his reaction was: 'OK, but I'm wondering why the puppets are necessary?'' His Faustus in Africa! with puppets is being revived this summer at the Edinburgh International Festival in a collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company (of War Horse fame). He conceived of the idea in 1995 when the first African National Congress (ANC) government had taken power. 'Faustus is about a pact with the Devil and I wanted to look at what concessions the ANC made to gain power and avoid civil war,' he says. 'Thirty years on it still feels surprisingly relevant.' • The best exhibitions in London and the UK to book for July 2025 At 70, Kentridge is more prolific than ever: his nine-part film Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot launched on the streaming platform Mubi last year, he has a chamber opera touring festivals around Europe, and he is working on a new production of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo for Glyndebourne. 'It's my father's favourite place in the world,' he says. 'There have been many family outings there over the decades.' Right now he's looking forward to returning to his studio in Johannesburg. 'There's a kind of a balance between work that I do entirely on my own, drawings and animation, and then projects which need many collaborators,' he says. The performance work evolves from the arts centre he founded and funds in the city's downtown area. 'We teach, do workshops and stage performances,' he says, adding that he thrives on the energy that collaboration brings. 'It's not just about giving back to other artists, it's also very much for me and what I can discover working with them.' As I leave, I ask if he watched the recent footage of President Trump monstering South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the White House. 'I didn't dare watch it through. It was too painful, the boorishness of it, but I thought our president did well,' he says firmly, before adding: 'Our great billionaire Elon Musk doesn't help matters either. There are several million white South Africans who went through the same kind of schooling as Musk and haven't ended up as awful or as rich.'William Kentridge: the Pull of Gravity is at Yorkshire Sculpture Park to April 19, 2026; Faustus in Africa! is at the Lyceum, Edinburgh, August 20-23

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