'It's really nice that people see that side of me...' Judy Murray loves it when people say how smiley she is
Judy Murray - who has been photographed looking "glum" and "grimacing" in the Wimbledon players' box over the years - says people are always commenting on how smiley the mum of tennis legends Andy Murray and Jamie Murray is.
Judy Murray says people are surprised by how smiley she is.
The 65-year-old tennis coach has been photographed looking "glum" and "grimacing" in the players' boxes as she watched her sons Andy Murray, 38, and Jamie Murray, 39, compete in Wimbledon and other tennis tournaments over the years, and Judy admitted she loves it when people get to see her joyous side.
Writing in her column in the new issue of Woman's Weekly magazine, Judy said: "When the boys were emerging as top tennis players and we were launched into the limelight, I had a hard time from the media, seen as the pushy mum, overbearing and never smiling.
"The photographers caught me looking glum, grimacing or pumping my fist, and I think a lot of people thought I was too serious.
"The fact is, I'm not overbearing or pushy, I just get excited when I watch my kids.
"Being in the Wimbledon players' box is not fun. It's really stressful and there's a reason I'm not smiling.
"When I meet people in everyday life now, they point out that I'm always smiling.
"It's really nice that people see that side of me."
The Strictly Come Dancing 2014 contestant struggled to keep a straight face when she did a series of sketches with comedian-and-actor Chris Forbes called The Other Murray Brother - which went viral and even became a set at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022.
She said: "It was probably five years ago when I was asked to work with a young comedian called Chris Forbes.
"He came up with this fun idea of another Murray brother called Duncan - one who, unlike Andy and Jamie - was a complete disappointment to me and that's why I kept him out of the way.
"It sounded funny and I like to help young people, so I agreed to do an online three-minute comedy sketch. When I met 'Duncan' for the first time, he was wearing a Heart of Midlothian football shirt. My dad played for Hibs, their rivals.
"He then started eating a packet of crisps right next to me, which is one of my pet peeves. I knew immediately that we were going to have some fun.
"When he handed me the script, I said I couldn't say half the things on there as they were too mean. He convinced me it was fine and as he didn't try to push me to do anything, I went with it, and honestly, it was so funny.
"I struggled to keep a straight face."
