Who is Ronnie O'Sullivan's father and why was he in prison? | The Sun
SNOOKER legend Ronnie O'Sullivan opened up about his father in a documentary about his life.
The Amazon Prime film, titled Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything, delves into the sportsman's past, including the time his dad spent in prison.
Who is Ronnie O'Sullivan's father?
Ronnie O'Sullivan's father, Ronnie Snr, is the former owner of a string of sex shops in Soho, London.
He shares Ronnie with the snooker star's Sicilian-born mother Maria.
The couple welcomed Ronnie Jnr in 1975 and raised him in the West Midlands town of Wordsley, and later Essex, with his younger sister Danielle.
Ronnie Snr acted as a mentor for his son during the early years of his snooker career.
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Ronnie Jnr started being a professional snooker player in 1992 and would go on to become one of the greatest players of all time.
He has won the World Championship seven times, a record he shares with Stephen Hendry.
Why was Ronnie O'Sullivan's father in prison?
Ronnie Snr was jailed for murder in 1992 after stabbing the driver of notorious gangster Charlie Kray, Bruce Bryan, to death in a Chelsea nightclub.
Charlie Kray was the brother of two of England's most notorious gangsters, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
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Ronnie Snr was sent away the same year his son turned professional at snooker and spent 18 years behind bars before his release in 2010.
O'Sullivan has since left his old life behind and now travels around the UK in a campervan.
In February 2022, The Sun reported that Ronnie Sr was living in a plush £94,000 Mercedes motorhome with his girlfriend Tiffany Kushner.
Tiffany, who went to the same girls’ school in Sussex as Holly Willoughby, is the founder of superfood brand Chaga Life.
What has Ronnie O'Sullivan said about his father?
In The Edge Of Everything documentary, Ronnie O'Sullivan opens up about his dad's time in prison and even gets emotional when remembering what his dad said when he was sentenced.
The star, who has been in a relationship with actress Laila Rouass for over a decade, tells the cameras: "My dad was being carted off, he'd been sentenced, he just looked up to the woman and [gets emotional and wipes away tears] you get a bit emotional sometimes don't you."
"He just said, 'Tell my boy to win'.
"Typical. 'Just tell my boy to win'.
"That was it. F***ing 30 years ago.
"Part of me was thinking, 'F*** you and f*** this, just f*** everybody.'
"The healthiest thing for me to do was probably to stop playing snooker. But I didn't, I just felt compelled to stick with it."
In a 2022 Eurosport documentary, Ronnie Jr also revealed how much of an impact his father had on his career in his younger years.
He said: "If it wasn't for him in my early days I probably wouldn’t have been a professional sportsman or anything, he instilled that discipline in me.
"He came from a hard background…I was a bit flaky, just wanted to have fun and have a laugh. He was like, no, we don't do it like that.
"He incorporated that bit of seriousness into how I go about my career really."
Speaking about Ronnie Snr shortly after he claimed his record-breaking seventh World Snooker Championship title in May 2022, O'Sullivan revealed how grateful he is to now have his dad be able to share in success.
He explained: "He wasn't here for a lot of years to share these moments.
"For me, I just wanted him here to experience it and get a feel for it."
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