Laila Rouass confirms break up from snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan as on/off couple determine they’re higher off as ‘pals’ after 13 years collectively

Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan’s on-off relationship with Laila Rouass is finally over. 

Footballer’s Wives star Laila, 53, remains in their family home, while Ronnie, 49, resides nearby, and they maintain a healthy friendship, according to sources close to the couple.

The starry couple – who at one point planned to marry – are understood to have definitively ended their decade-long romance some weeks ago after previously breaking up before quickly getting back together.

An insider close to the pair told MailOnline: ‘There’s no bad blood between them. They’re getting on with their lives and continue to be close friends. There’s no ugly fallout, that’s for sure.’ 

Laila addressed the split publicly for the first time on Thursday as she shared an AI filtered image of herself on Instagram.  

Without naming her former fiancé, she captioned the post: ‘Break ups can strip you down to your essence.’

She added: ‘I got through mine by using pain as fuel to take control because no matter what, we will lose parts of ourselves in relationships. It’s normal, don’t beat yourself up.’

Laila’s Instagram post continued with her developing her theme of how she has tried to turn her break-up pain into a positive by focusing on wellness.

She wrote: ‘One thing I’m conscious of not doing is trying to get back to what I was. No, I’m discovering who l’ve become. I’ve gone through various emotions… hurt, pain, anger but what l’ve realised about anger is that it’s bottomless.

‘It can go on and on and once you’re in that black hole…it’s very hard to drag yourself back out. 

‘Anyone going through a break up… I want to tell you that you will come out the other side. I have and I feel so much better, stronger and sexier.’

She added: ‘Life has a funny way of throwing in a plot twist here and there. . . Just roll with the punches because life is so much richer, so much fuller when you drop the anger, the resentment and the regret.

‘I’m looking back at my last relationship with a smile and wave, because time moves on and I don’t like to play catch up.’

Laila’s post came two days after Ronnie decided decided to withdraw from the Scottish Open at the last minute.

He waited until less than 24 hours before he was set to take to the table at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh to inform tournament organisers that he wouldn’t be playing.

There was no reason offered by the seven-time world champion for his sudden absence. 

Ronnie has already missed the British Open, Wuhan Open, and Northern Ireland Open during the current campaign and previously pulled out of the Scottish Open again last year.

Suggestions that the couple’s famously on-off relationship was back in trouble first emerged in September – but then days later Ronnie was seen putting the bins out in his Y-fronts and slippers at the house they share in Essex.

The couple were also photographed together in the days that followed – but since then it’s understood they have both accepted their relationship has run its course.

Laila is continuing to live in the mansion and has installed a Christmas tree in the front window with glittering lights and daily takes her two dogs for walks in nearby woodland.

Her relationship with Ronnie first blossomed in 2011 after the snooker champ called her up to view his house that was recently put on the market and was given a tour by his father Ronnie O’Sullivan Sr.

They went on to have a relationship that lasted more than a decade and had planned to wed.

In an old interview Laila previously explained how they had first got together: ”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?’ I’d never heard of him because sport doesn’t interest me at all, although Ronnie’s won me over to snooker.’

They confirmed their whirlwind romance by getting engaged in the following year.

Speaking of their long engagement, Laila, who has a seven-year-old daughter called Inez from a previous relationship, told The Mirror in 2019: ‘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 so there’s no rush.’

But the couple split up after a decade together with Laila making the announcement to shocked fans.

‘After nearly ten years of love and memories, Ronnie & I have parted ways,’ she wrote on Instagram in February 2022. ‘Peace & love to you all. Laila X.’

However, that separation did not last long and by April, Laila was spotted wearing her engagement ring once again.

The following month, the pair confirmed their reconciliation, before jetting off on holiday.

The actress said last year that open communication brought them back together after their split.

Laila said: ‘We found our way back, we just worked it out. Back when I announced it, we hadn’t been together for almost eight months at that time.

‘Talking is so underrated. If you can sit down and say how you feel and what you want when you get older that is much easier to say too.’

However, this time there doesn’t seem to be a way back for them.

The actress, who featured in the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing, surprised her 68,000 Instagram followers last week by revealing her new optimistic outlook on life in what it’s now clear was her first detailed post as a single woman.

She posted: ‘How are you all? I’m slowly dipping my toe back into Instagram. I took a much-needed break from socials to get my s*** together because these last few months have been testing to say the least.’

Laila continued: ‘The thing is, stepping back has been nothing short of magical and I think that’s largely because I’ve found faith.

‘I don’t necessarily mean the religious kind, although that does make up part of my faith journey, I mean actually discovering what faith can do for me and how it’s always been there, l’ve just not given it the acknowledgment it deserves.

What’s struck me is how faith is so much bigger than I am, so much more powerful and so much more effective.

‘You can call it God, Allah, Buddha, nature, energy, frequency, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the perspective and peace it gives you.

‘l’ve realised how faith controls so much more than I ever could and that was an epiphany for me. It’s had the most profound effect.

‘I feel so much lighter and I feel as if my heart has really, truly and fully opened.

‘I have been approaching things with an open heart and mind because I really do have faith that things will work themselves out. That life will be good and to enjoy what l have because as good as life is, it’s also fickle.

‘Truly understanding faith has given me so much freedom to make choices that are not always safe. 

She continued: ‘It’s liberating to just let go of the bullshit and anything or anyone that’s a thief of joy.’

‘I wanted to share this with you because I’m entering a new chapter of my life and it’s terribly exciting. Exciting because I don’t feel alone. 

‘I have my faith right next to me and it’s taught me that life is infinitely more richer when it’s lived in honesty and trust.

‘If I could offer you one gift today it would be the gift of Faith.’