Actress Laila Rouass shares 'soul destroying' times with Ronnie O'Sullivan

21 November 2023 , 13:23

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Actress Laila Rouass shares 'soul destroying' times with Ronnie O'Sullivan

He is one of the greatest snooker players of all time but it seems behind closed doors Ronnie O'Sullivan struggled with his mental health throughout his entire career.

And for the first time, his actress fiancee Laila Rouass, 51, has opened up on how "soul destroying" it was to watch her loved one battle with his demons away from his adoring fans. In a new Amazon Prime documentary called Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge Of Everything, the couple are seen sat down together following his 6-4 loss to Neil Robertson at the Masters last year. The pair then embark on a heart to heart.

Actress Laila Rouass opens up on 'soul destroying' time with partner Ronnie O'Sullivan (Channel 4)

Viewers saw how Laila, who became a household name after starring in Footballers Wives in 2004 and five years later in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, tried to make him see that the game was effecting his mental health. She said: "I want you to do what makes you to be happy. I don't tell you to stop or to carry on. I would never put you in a situation like that. I am OK with it. I just think it's about management. There's so much self-criticism involved and a lot of time on your own to think."

But refusing to take on board what she was saying, Ronnie is seen jumping in saying: "But I think I am much more comfortable with it now than I have ever been. If I didn't stop before, when I was really uncomfortable, why would I stop now if I feel more comfortable with it? It is as if I have overcome my demons in a way."

In an uncomfortable exchange, Laila added: "I think that's your mood today. When you see it in a romantic way. But the reality is it's hard to watch somebody go through that emotionally. That's when the questions come in. 'Jesus, why is he doing this? Why does he put himself through it?' It's like so soul-destroying. But that's because I think you do love it, as much as you maybe hate to admit it."

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Ronnie O'Sullivan reveals mental health struggles in new Amazon documentary (Publicity Picture)

Laila and Ronnie, known as The Rocket, first met in 2012 while Laila was house hunting. Recalling their chance meeting, the actress previously said: "It happened by accident. I was shown around Ronnie’s house by his father, who told his son about meeting me. Ronnie called the estate agent, a friend of mine, and asked me out via her. When he said he was a snooker player I said, 'yeah but what does he do for a living?' I'd never heard of him because sport doesn't interest me at all, although Ronnie's won me over to snooker."

And within a year, the couple were engaged but did not tie tie knot. In 2019, addressing speculation as to why they still hadn't walked down the aisle, Laila told the Mirror: "I’d have to really gear myself up for a wedding. At the moment we’ve put it on the back burner and we’re enjoying our time so there’s no rush." And Ronnie added: "It becomes a bit more important as you get older for legal reasons but for now we're OK. If something's not broke, why fix it? If it's working, why change a winning formula?"

Ronnie struggled with his mental health throughout his career (Publicity Picture)

The snooker ace continued: "We’ve been engaged for a while now, so we know we want to be with each other, I’m sure we will get round to it. We’re very casual and laid-back about the whole thing anyway. When it happens, it will happen. I love her, I love her company, I admire her.She’s good for me in many ways and understands me and the business and gets it and what I go through."

However, last year the pair decided to go their separate ways and the Strictly star announced their split on X, formerly known as Twitter. In February, she wrote: "After nearly ten years of love and memories, Ronnie & I have parted ways. Peace & love to you all. Laila X." But at the time of the announcement, fans had no idea that they had already been apart for eight months.

But by May of the same year, she confirmed rumours that they had reunited. Appearing on daytime TV discussion show Loose Women, Laila told the panelists and viewers: "Me and Ronnie are back together, we found our way back. We just worked it out – back when I announced it, we hadn't been together for almost eight months at that time. Talking is so underrated. If you can sit down and say how you feel and what you want – when you get older that is much easier to say too."

Lucretia Munro