BIG BREAK-UP
Who is Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ex-partner Laila Rouass?
The couple called time on their relationship after 147 months together
RONNIE O'Sullivan is a snooker genius, breaking nearly every record and winning more titles than any other player in the history of the game.
Off the table The Rocket and Laila Rouass split up on September 19, 2024.
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Who is Laila Rouass?
Laila Abdesselam Rouass was born June 22, 1971, in London to Moroccan parents.
She spent some time living in India in the 1990s and worked as a video jockey for Channel V.
Laila got her big break when she moved back to the UK in the early noughties and landed a top role on hit ITV series Footballers' Wives playing WAG Amber Gates.
After the show ended, she landed another big part playing Sahira Shah in Holby City.
Are Laila Rouass and Ronnie O'Sullivan married?
Laila was engaged to snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan between 2013 and 2024.
But on September 19, 2024, The Sun exclusively revealed the actress and snooker star have called time on their relationship for good.
A friend of theirs told us: “Ronnie has spent months and months on the road this year doing snooker tours for big money in China and Saudi Arabia while Laila has been concentrating on her acting career.
“There is a lot of love between them but they have been going in different directions and conceded it is over."
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When Laila popped up on ITV’s This Morning in August to publicise her stint as Ayesha Siddhu in EastEnders, she was not wearing her diamond engagement ring.
The seven-time world champion gave Laila the massive sparkler in 2013 — a year after they started dating.
Ronnie O'Sullivan: 'Sometimes I just can't wait to get out the venue... it's that bad and embarrassing'
They first met when she was house-hunting in 2012.
Laila previously told The Sun that she didn't know he was a snooker icon.
She 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?’
There is a lot of love between them but they have been going in different directions and conceded it is over
A Friend
“I’d never heard of him as sport doesn’t interest me at all, although Ronnie’s won me over to snooker.”
The former couple's most recent break-up isn't their first, as in February 2022, reports claimed the couple had split up.
But by April of the same year, said that the couple was "giving things another go".
Although they were engaged for over a decade, the pair never married.
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Laila, who has been wed before, explained: “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. There’s no rush.”
Ronnie added: “It becomes a bit more important as you get older for legal reasons, but for now we’re OK.”
The friction in the declining relationship could explain some of The Rocket's poor form this season — for his exceptionally high standards, at least.
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Ronnie lost to 6-4 to Kyren Wilson in the semis of the Xi'an Grand Prix in August 2024, before falling at the same stage and with the same result to China's Si Jiahui in the Saudi Arabia Masters at the start of the following month.
Speaking of his form in Riradh, he told the : "Sometimes I just can't wait to get out of the venue. It's that bad, it's that embarrassing, it's that poor."
The Rocket then described his performance later in September at the English Open as "useless", "awful" and "emabarrassing" as he was dumped out in the first round 4-2 by He Guoqiang in Essex.
Ronnie once again hinted at retirement, telling Sun Sport: "I haven't got long, I'm not going to deny it, I'm not playing well enough, there's no point in even worrying about it — I've just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really."
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How many children does Laila Rouass have?
Laila has a daughter named Inez Khan, who was born in 2006.
She had her from her previous relationship with Nasir Khan.
They were together for three years from 2005 till 2008.
When was Laila Rouass on Strictly Come Dancing?
In 2009, Laila competed in Strictly Come Dancing with her partner Anton Du Beke.
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She finished in fourth place and in February 2022, she said publicly that she did not enjoy her time on the show.
Laila explained on The Graham Norton Radio Show: "Oh my god that was a nightmare, it was a nightmare!
"I really wanted to leave, I didn't enjoy it.
"I love the show but I wanted to do Blackpool and that's six weeks, and so I go on, we do Blackpool, Rod Stewart's there, I'm thinking I'm living the dream.
“[After being voted through] you've got to go to the camera and go ‘thank you, thank you so much, and I go ‘I can't believe this, I want to go home!’
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“Six weeks and I wanted to go. You get paid the same anyway, whether you're in the first week or the 17th week.”
Which TV shows have Laila Rouass appeared in?
Laila is mostly famous for Footballers' Wives and Holby City.
However, her other roles include Azra McKinven in Traces in 2022, and playing Olivia in the Disney Channel series The Lodge in 2016.
She also portrayed Sarah Page in Primeval in 2009, and in 2003 starred in Hollyoaks as Dale Jackson.
Lalia also starred in the E! Original The Royals, alongside Elizabeth Hurley.
Her most recent part was that of Ayesha Siddhu in Eastenders, a part she played for five episodes in 2024.
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