Ronnie O’Sullivan’s fiancee Laila Rouass nearly left him after they first met

Laila Rouass once admitted she nearly left snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan because she thought he wasn’t ‘stepdad material’.

The Rocket, 48, has reportedly split from Laila – who was spotted without her engagement ring last month when appearing on This Morning. A friend told The Sun: “They have been going in different directions.”

Laila’s Footballers Wives’ fame led to her bagging a role in BBC’s Holby City and she became a firm favourite among fans as the iconic Sahira Shah. She left the show in 2012, a year after joining, but returned in 2021.

READ MORE: Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘splits up’ with Footballers’ Wives and EastEnders actress Laila Rouass

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The actress had struggled to juggle her acting schedule with being a single mother to her four-year-old daughter Inez.

In an interview with The Mirror, Laila credited her comeback in part to her beau, who she at first doubted would be “step-dad material”. She met the six-time world champion in 2012 and admitted bringing two families together has not been easy.

O’Sullivan has since been stepdad to her daughter Inez, now 17, and has three children of his own, Taylor-Ann, Lily, and Ronnie. TV star Laila told the publication: “It’s a lie if people tell you that blended families are easy.

“He’s struggled with it, I’ve struggled with it and Inez has struggled with it. It takes hard work and you have to be honest with yourself and each other.”

She continued: “That’s what we’ve had to do over the last nine years. We’ve had to work through things and now it’s much smoother.

Laila said: “Initially I thought: ‘This guy is not step-dad material.’ He’s a fantastic dad to his kids, but he was struggling with his own relationship with his family. I thought he had too much on his plate, but now he and Inez have got the best relationship.”

Laila played glamorous bisexual Amber Gates on Footballers’ Wives and her character’s baby was swapped at birth by a midwife who had been bribed by her rival.

Her character also found out her husband Conrad had been cheating on her after finding the letter T scratched on to his buttocks and faked her own kidnap in an act of revenge.

The actress has said she believes the show was ahead of its time, as she explained: “Some people said it was outrageous, but when you read now what footballers have been up to, you realise that we were tame. My cat fights? Look at Rebecca Vardy and Coleen Rooney!”