Serena Williams has revealed that her dad pulled out of walking her down the aisle an hour before her wedding and only told her by text. The tennis ch
Serena Williams has revealed that her dad pulled out of walking her down the aisle an hour before her wedding and only told her by text. The tennis champion married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in a lavish ceremony in November 2017. However, her dad and long-time coach, Richard Williams messaged her just hours before the wedding to say he wouldn’t be accompanying her down the aisle on her big day and now Serena has revealed why.
Speaking in her new HBO documentary, Being Serena, the 36-year-old revealed what happened an hour before her bash in New Orleans.
She said: “He was in New Orleans, he had a suit, and I know he was really excited. But then he wrote me and said, ‘Serena, I don’t want you to be mad at me, but I just can’t walk you down the aisle. I’m not myself anymore. I’m just too nervous.’”
Serena said she didn’t panic and that she understood the reasoning behind his decision. She told him: “Daddy, it’s OK, if you don’t want to come to the wedding at all, that’s OK too. I’m not going to be upset with you about it, so I don’t want you to be upset about it.”
Serena said she can understand why some people would have panicked in the same situation but that her dad had been through a lot, including suffering a stroke in 2016. She added: “If he doesn’t want to be up there in front of a lot of people, I completely understand. Look, when we first came on the scene, there were a lot of people who didn’t get him.
“I don’t think a lot of them wanted to get him. I don’t think a lot of him could have anyway. Our family knows what we have. We just want each other to be happy. That’s what matters. I don’t think anything could ever change that.”
Serena, who is mum to daughter Alexis Olympia with her husband, walked down the aisle alone.
