Ronnie O'Sullivan has garnered plenty of attention heading into this year's World Championships at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Snooker's most prestigious tournament gets underway this weekend but 'The Rocket' has not appeared at an event since playing the Champions League in January.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sportearlier this month, O'Sullivan said: 'I'd be happy with just winning a match. I think that'd be a good result for me. If I got one win, I'd be over the moon.'
This was most evident in his turbulent relationship with former Eastendersand Footballers' Wives star Laila Rouass - who allegedly split from the snooker ace after his mum was claimed to have called her a 'prostitute'.
She appearedin EastEnders in August 2024 as the guest character Ayesha Siddhu and the character of Amber in Footballers' Wives.
Here, Mail Sport takes a deep-dive into a relationship that all began with a seemingly innocent property viewing.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is under scrutiny having not played in an event since January
But he has also endured a turbulent time away from the sport in recent years - none more so than when he dated Footballers' Wives star Laila Rouassi
Rouassi has also appeared as a guest in hit British soap opera Eastenders
The pair began dating one another back in 2012 when Laila was looking for a property to purchase and was shown round what was then O'Sullivan's mansion by his father.
After learning of the actress' interest in the property, he contacted its estate agent - who was a friend of hers - to arrange a date.
However, she was caught unawares by O'Sullivan's advances as she had no idea that he was a multiple World Championship-winning snooker player.
Commenting on how that occurred, she said:'When she 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!'
They subsequently moved into a property in Essex together having dated for just four months - with Rouass also taking care of her daughter, Inez, who was born from a previous marriage.
Ronnie then took things a step further by proposing to her in 2013, although the pair never ended up marrying.
They initially separated inFebruary 2022, only to reconcile with each other after a matter of months.
But the pair eventually split in December 2024, bringing to an end a rollercoaster of a romance that flickered on and off more than a TV screen in a thunderstorm.
Laila and Ronnie began dating each other despite the actress not initially realising that he was a famous sportsman
They then moved into a property in Essex together having dated for just four months
Ronnie then took things a step further by proposing to her in 2013, although the pair never ended up marrying
Announcing their break-up via Instagram at the time, Laila wrote:'The thing about break ups... It doesn't have to be a sad time. It doesn't have to be hard. It can be the beginning of new adventures, new learnings.
'It can be a wonderful teacher. Using self-compassion and manifesting a new life without someone you love can still lead you to a place of joy. Thank you for your kind messages.'
That same sentiment does not appear to be felt towards Laila by O'Sullivan's mother Maria.
Speaking to The Sunin 2020, Ronnie's younger sister Danielle shared how his mother once labelled her 'a f***ing s***g'.
She seethed: 'Ronnie has given Mum so much help in the past. But when he asked her for £15,000 last year, he told me she said, 'I'm not giving you money for that f*****g s**g!'
'She has shown me Laila's number saved on her phone under 'the revolving f***y' and allegedly told Ronnie that 'she's just a prostitute - she'll sleep with anyone.'
Maria, who served a year-long prison sentence for tax evasion back in 1996, was claimed to be a factor in her son's relationship with Rouass deteriorating.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline in 2022,a female relative of Laila's, who did not want to be named, slammed Maria for her attitude, claiming that it did not help Laila and Ronnie's relationship.
The pair ended their relationship in December 2024 for good afterRonnie's younger sister Danielle shared how his mother once allegedly labelled Laila as 'a f***ing s***g'
However, Laila seemed more remorseful, as she wrote on Instagram following their break-up:'The thing about break ups... It doesn't have to be a sad time'
They said: 'We are a big family with good values and believe in conducting ourselves properly and behaving and speaking decently. I don't feel that it's respectful to talk about Laila in this way.'
'Ronnie's mum's attitude in the relationship has not helped. She does not sound like a very nice person to me. It's probably better that Laila and Ronnie didn't get married because who would want a mother-in-law like that?'
The relative added: 'Laila and the rest of the family are very humble. None of us make a big deal of the fact that she's a celebrity and she does not behave like a big star.
'Laila's parents and siblings don't discuss her business with us, even though we are quite close, and we didn't know about the split until we read about it in the media. But from what I've heard nothing major happened in the relationship that led to the breakup.'
'Laila is a strong, beautiful woman who knows how to take care of herself. I'm sure she will be able to find another man quite easily because she is a good person.'
Laila broke her silence about the split on Thursday with an Instagram post about 'manifesting a new life without someone you love.'
