The 36-year-old athlete has a thing or two in common with Meghan Markle.
Serena Williams has a thing or two in common with her friend, Meghan Markle.
The 36-year-old tennis pro relives her November wedding to Alexis Ohanian on Wednesday's episode of Being Serena, and opens up about one not-so-glamorous part of the day: her father and longtime coach, Richard Williams, dropping out of her wedding just one hour before the ceremony was supposed to start.
"He was in New Orleans, he had a suit, and I know he was really excited,” Serena said in the episode. "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."
The new mom explained that she wrote back saying, "Daddy, it’s okay, if you don’t want to come to the wedding at all, that’s okay too. I’m not going to be upset with you about it, so I don’t want you to be upset about it."
"Maybe a lot of daughters wouldn’t react the same way, but I know the struggles he’s had these last few years. His health is better now, but I know he still doesn’t feel like himself, doesn’t feel like he’s perfect. And if he doesn’t want to be up there in front of a lot of people, I completely understand," Serena shared. "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.”
The athlete was instead walked herself down the aisle to "How Far I'll Go" from Moana.
Markle's father, Thomas, revealed on Wednesday that he would be unable to walk his daughter down the aisle after suffering a heart attack last week. The news came after Thomas made headlines after reportedly arranging to take paparazzi photos of himself with a photographer.
ET recently spoke with Serena, who couldn't stop gushing about Markle's upcoming wedding. Watch below.
Being Serena airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
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