Ronnie O'Sullivan and Laila Rouass split after nearly ten years
Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan and actor Laila Rouass have ended their almost decade-long romance.
Rouass confirmed the split on Wednesday writing on Twitter: "After nearly ten years of love and memories, Ronnie & I have parted ways. Peace & love to you all. Laila X."
Fans were swift to express their sadness in her comments as well as leaving their well wishes for both parties.
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The pair met in 2012 and became engaged the following year, but did not make it down the aisle.
After nearly ten years of love and memories, Ronnie & I have parted ways.
Peace & love to you all
Laila X— Laila Rouass (@lailarouass) February 16, 2022
While they had kept their relationship largely out of the public eye, Rouass, 50, who is best known for her role as Amber Gates in ITV soap drama Footballers’ Wives in the early 2000s, previously revealed that their romance began just by chance.
“It happened by accident,“ the star who was house hunting when she met the sports icon told Irish News in 2016. “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 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.”
Although they became engaged in 2013, the pair explained that they hadn't tied the knot because “If something’s not broke, why fix it?"
“I’d have to really gear myself up for a wedding,“ Rouass told The Mirror in 2019. “At the moment we’ve put it on the back burner and we’re enjoying our time so there’s no rush.“
O'Sullivan, who has never married but has three children from two previous relationships, 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? 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.“
He continued: “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.”
Ronnie O'Sullivan's representatives say the snooker star has no comment to make about the news.
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