Serena Williams: 'Beyonce made me lose myself in Lemonade dance'

Serena Williams had to lose her inhibitions to appear as a video dancer onscreen for Beyonce's visual album Lemonade.

The tennis superstar surprised viewers when she appeared by Beyonce;s side during the track Sorry. And she reveals the singer told her to be courageous and dance like no one was watching.

The sporting legend can be seen bumping and grinding in a leotard, showing little self-consciousness as she shows off her moves in front of the 34-year-old R&B star.

In a video posted on YouTube, Serena explains, "She (Beyonce) told me that she just wants me to dance, like just be really free and just dance like nobody's looking and go all out. That wasn't easy in the beginning, but then it got easier."

Despite initially finding it difficult to perform the sexy routine, Serena explains her love of dancing helped her relax.

"It was fun," she says. "It was a great experience, I love to dance - little known fact - but, I actually really love dancing. It just makes me really, really relaxed and it's also a good way to work out without, like, being on the treadmill."

The 34-year-old athlete explains her role in Lemonade came about due to her friendship with both Beyonce and the director of the Sorry segment Kahlil Joseph, who has worked with FKA twigs, Flying Lotus, and Kendrick Lamar..

"I have known the director since I was like nine years old," she explains, "I know Beyonce pretty well, so they were like, 'We would love for you to be in this particular song. It's about strength and it's about courage, and that's what we see you as.'"

Sorry has been one of the most talked about tracks on Lemonade since it debuted on the HBO network on 23 April (16).

Fans have interpreted the song's lyrics as referring to Beyonce's husband Jay Z's rumoured infidelities.

In particular, one lyric which states, "He better call Becky with the good hair," has led to fevered speculation as to who the real, "Becky" is.

Both the fashion designer Rachel Roy and Rita Ora, formerly one of Jay Z's musical proteges, have publicly denied the lyric refers to them.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, a long-term friend of the musical power-couple jokingly outed himself as Becky last week (beg02May16).

"Yes, that's me (Becky). Jay and I have been seeing each other on-off for about 24 years," he told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper. "We just go bowling together. But people get the wrong idea because we're talking about walking around with big balls. I'm glad to have it off my chest."