Gala, the direct source of his padel comments
The information does come from an interview. In a conversation with Gala around his 60th birthday, David Hallyday talks about the sports he keeps up during holidays and while travelling. He first says that he still plays a lot of tennis, a sport he has practised since his teenage years. He then explains the place padel now has in his routine.
But I have also really got into padel. I always have my racket with me and I play a little everywhere.
He gives a concrete example. During filming for the series Ardennes, matches were organised on Sundays, when there was no filming. The comment is not about a one-off holiday game. It describes a habit he fits around his professional schedule.
Padel was already on his radar in 2024
This interest in padel did not appear for the first time in 2026. Two years earlier, David Hallyday had already mentioned it in an interview with Endurance Info about his motorsport career. Asked when he might slow down on the racing circuit, he replied with humour:
I have always told myself that when I become less competitive, I will turn more towards tennis or padel.
At the time, he added that he still felt good behind the wheel. Padel was already one of the activities to which he could imagine devoting more time, alongside tennis.
How long has David Hallyday been playing padel?
An older element shows that his connection with padel predates his 60th birthday. On 30 June 2018, the Tennis Club d’Éze published a page titled “Célébrités – Padel Eze” featuring a photo of David Hallyday on a padel court, racket in hand.
The timeline is clear enough. In 2018, he was already photographed on a court. In 2024, he named padel as a sport he could spend more time on. In 2026, he told Gala that he now travels with his racket and plays whenever the opportunity arises. At 60, padel is no longer just an activity he might take up more seriously later. It is part of his sporting routine.
