Loved-up Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals how actress partner Laila Rouass has helped him get his life back on track
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has opened up about how partner Laila Rouass has helped him into a “better place” in his life.
Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan, 47, has been with actress Laila, 47, for ten years.
The pair briefly broke up last year, before the Holby City and Footballers’ Wives actress confirmed they had got back together just three months later.
O’Sullivan, who exited the World Snooker Championships at the quarter-final stage last month, won his seventh title at the Crucible in 2022.
And despite his last-eight exit this year, he remains the world No1 ahead of newly-crowned world champion Luca Brecel.
O’Sullivan’s recent success comes after well-documented mental health struggles.
The Rocket, whose dad was jailed for murder when he was just 16 years of age, has detailed in the past his battles with anxiety and depression, as well as issues with alcohol and drugs.
And he puts much of his improved state down to the people he now has around him – including long-term partner Laila – as well as the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps programme and a sports psychiatrist.
Speaking in his new book “Unbreakable”, as reported by The Mirror, he said: “It’s good [his relationship with Laila]. She’s great. I love her. She’s great company and I love being around her.
“She’s very supportive. I have to behave myself. I know when to go, ‘Alright, you’re in charge’.
“But she’s also really good at going, ‘Listen, you’ve got a busy life, you’ve got a lot to do, just get on with it’.
“Now it feels a lot better – everyone’s just in a better place.
“I just want to see her and her daughter happy, and her family, who are like my family, happy.”
He also added: “I’m less intense. I’ve not mellowed in that I’ve changed my personality, but I’ve learned to just not take myself too seriously. I’m much more philosophical.”
Laila and snooker legend O’Sullivan, 47, do not have any children together but both have kids from previous relationships.
Laila has a 15-year-old daughter Inez and Ronnie has three children – 26-year-old Taylor-Anne, 16-year-old Lily and 15-year-old Ronnie Jr.
O’Sullivan won the world championships last year to equal Stephen Hendry’s tally of seven titles.
If he wins one more, he will become the first eight-time champion in snooker’s modern era.
And he appears to be in a much better position to produce his best snooker compared with his mentally challenging years – which he pinpoints as being between 1994 and 2000.
Referencing how his dad’s incarceration impacted him, he said: “That was the biggest thing that just ravaged me, mentally and emotionally, it just ruined me.
“I thought, that’s it, I’m never going to see him.”
But now he has a superb balance in his life – with O’Sullivan comfortable enough to explore other avenues while trusting that his form will not wane.
He said: “We still do the things we love, but we have a way of detaching ourselves to live life a bit – and then have the confidence that when I go back to it, it’s still going to be there.”