Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed why he traded England for Dubai earlier this year – after his wife snubbed Sheffield.
The snooker hero upped sticks in the summer alongside his wife Laila Rouass, who he married in June – just 10 months after they reportedly split up.
Rouass refused to live in Yorkshire, and O’Sullivan strangely felt he had nowhere else to practice in the UK, so it was either Spain or Dubai.
O’Sullivan, 49, launched an academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last year and is now much closer to China, where many of the tournaments he plays in are based.
‘It’s really good. I’ve got a great practice facility there, which was one of the main reasons for going,’ O’Sullivan told the Sun.
‘I was struggling to find somewhere to play. It was either get a train up to Sheffield or try to move to Sheffield. But my wife wasn’t too keen on Sheffield. So she said we either go Spain or Dubai.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is loving life out in Dubai after moving there with his wife Laila Rouass
The pair tied the knot in June after a remarkable romantic u-turn, having split up late last year
O’Sullivan claimed he had nowhere else to play in the UK besides Sheffield, but his wife didn’t want to live there, so Dubai it was
‘Really enjoying it out there. Great gyms. I’m enjoying that side of it. I had some friends over there before that played snooker and they’ve helped me get into Dubai life.
‘I’ve met some really nice friends and fitted in really well. So yeah, it’s great.
‘I’m not a sunbather, but I’d much rather the heat than cold, if that makes sense. Spring and autumn are my favourite times.’
O’Sullivan raised eybrows in June when he shared that he and Rouass had got married.
The lovebirds had been on and off for 13 years but last September, the Sun claimed that they had definitively called it quits.
In December, Rouass claimed she had come out ‘stronger and sexier’ after splitting with O’Sullivan.
‘Break ups can strip you down to your essence,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘I’ve gone through various emotions… hurt, pain, anger but what I’ve realised about anger is that it’s bottomless. It can go on and on and once you’re in that black hole…it’s very hard to drag yourself back out,’ she wrote on Instagram.
Snooker legend O’Sullivan has opened his own snooker academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
He is still getting used to calling Rouass his wife but things are a lot more settled now
The couple spent 13 years together and were even engaged before breaking up last year
Rouass claimed to be feeling ‘stronger and sexier’ after she and O’Sullivan split up
‘Anyone going through a break up… I want to tell you that you will come out the other side.
‘I have and I feel so much better, stronger and sexier. Life has a funny way of throwing in a plot twist here and there.’
In February, their split was solidified further when O’Sullivan put their £2million mansion in Essex up for sale, as exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail.
As late as March, Rouass aid there was nothing to ‘speak about’ regarding their relationship, giving no indication that there was romance back on the cards. The engagement ring she had long worn was missing.
And then, out of the blue, O’Sullivan announced that two had become one. ‘We finally made it official!! Mr & Mrs O’Sullivan,’ he wrote on Instagram.
It has taken him a while to get used to calling her his wife, but O’Sullivan says things are a lot more settled now they have tied the knot.
‘Everyone just knows where they are a bit more,’ he told the Sun.
“It probably feels a bit more mature, I suppose. It does take a while. At first I was like, oh, to say that word (wife), but now it feels pretty normal. It’s nice. Everything’s good. Everyone’s happy, which is the main thing.’
O’Sullivan announced his plans to move to the Middle East in May after losing to Zhao Xintong in the World Championship semi-finals in Sheffield.
That was his first tournament back after he snapped his cue in anger in January after a 3-2 defeat to Robert Milkins in the Championship League.
