Ronnie O’Sullivan says uprooting his life, moving to Dubai and stripping his phone down to the bare minimum has given him the “clean start” he has craved for years, as the snooker icon approaches his 50th birthday with a radically simplified lifestyle.
The seven-time world champion left the UK this summer after marrying actress Laila Rouass, selling his Essex home and relocating to the United Arab Emirates.
O’Sullivan had previously considered switching permanently to Spain, but ultimately decided the UAE’s calmer pace and warmer climate suited him more.
Now settled in Dubai, he is embracing a lifestyle that is almost entirely free of digital noise.
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The Rocket revealed he has no social-media apps, no messaging platforms and not even a web browser on his new phone.
After changing his number, only a handful of people - close family and trusted friends - can reach him directly.
“It’s sort of a clean start,” he said, per The Sun. “I wish I’d done it before, I might do it every six months. I’m not looking to progress my career through networking and that sort of thing. I’ve got my friends and that’s enough. The phone doesn’t really add to my life. So it’s quite nice, really.”
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Despite settling in Dubai, O’Sullivan admits he hasn’t learned Arabic and has no plans to do so - something he believes has become an unexpected advantage.
“One of the beauties of not knowing the language is I don’t really want to talk to everyone that I come in contact with,” he explained.
“I know it sounds terrible but we just smile at each other, hello, and it’s good.”
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Ronnie O'Sullivan married Laila Rouass earlier this year
| GETTYO’Sullivan, who has described himself as increasingly protective of his peace and privacy, said the move abroad was partly fuelled by the strain of constant travel, especially with so much of his professional life now based in the Middle East and China.
“I work a lot in the Middle East and China, and the jetlag, I could never get on top of it,” he said. “That was a struggle.”
His old life in Essex had also become, in his words, “too hectic”, with endless long drives into London and week-long stays in Sheffield just to get proper practice.
“I had to do a lot of trips into London, an hour and 20 minutes each way – it was a headache,” he added.
“I just find it all a bit too hectic. I couldn’t get anything done there.”
Dubai, he insists, is not about luxury displays or glitz.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is enjoying his new life in Dubai
|GETTY
“We’re not there for a bouji sort of lifestyle. I just like the simplicity of it there, the weather’s great,” he explained.
O’Sullivan will be back on the table this week at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia, but off the table he is keen to keep life stripped down, quiet and private - something reflected in his understated June wedding to Rouass.
The couple tied the knot at St George’s Town Hall in Shadwell, East London, without fanfare and without a best man.
“I didn’t actually have anyone there,” he said.
“I mean, we had Laila’s sisters. But we didn’t want nothing big.
“I’m just not into all that stuff. I f***ing hate being the host - I can’t stand it.”