Ray Reardon enjoyed a stratospheric rise to fame when he burst onto the snooker scene in the 1970s.
But during one of the highest points of his career, the sporting legend had the support of not one – but two – women behind him.
This afternoon, Ray’s second wife Carol confirmed that the six-time world snooker champion had passed away at the age of 91 from cancer.
However, the couple – who were married for 37 years – didn’t have the most conventional start to their relationship.
The pair first got together in 1977 – when Ray was still married to his first Sue, whom he shared two children with.
Pictured: Ray Reardon with his first wife Sue – who previously worked as a pottery painter – and their children Darren and Melanie
Pictured: Ray Reardon with his second wife Carol. The couple reportedly met in 1977, when Ray was still married to his first wife
That year, Ray missed out on the world title championship for the first time in five years – but secured his title again the following year.
Here FEMAIL delves into the forgotten scandal that tainted the Welshman’s image as a family man.
Near death experience and first wife’s support
When Ray was just 24 years old, the snooker legend, from Tredegar, was involved in a near-fatal mining accident.
The sporting star had left Georgetown Secondary School at 14 and briefly worked as an apprentice motor mechanic.
He then followed his father Ben down the mines in Wales before relocating to North Staffordshire in 1956 to work at the Florence Colliery.
The following year, future world-beating cueman was developing a pit roadway when a ‘trickle of dirt’ fell on his helmet.
Sensing danger, he hurled himself down and when a 12-foot girder crashed down along with a deluge of rubble, Reardon was trapped.
Pictured: Ray and Sue Reardon pose with his OBE outside Buckingham Palace in 1985, the same year the snooker star left his wife for Carol Covington
He was rescued after three hours, Reardon drawing on memories of playing marbles with brother Ron – 17 years his junior – to avoid panicking.
In his 1982 autobiography, Reardon recalled: ‘My ordeal had left me looking and feeling a bit like a dirty dishcloth and when the blood started to circulate in my numb legs it had me screaming in pain for a moment or so, but they gave me sips of water and soon I was all right.’
According to Press Association, Ray met his first wife Sue not long later and the pottery painter reportedly urged him to give up his life-threatening job.
Two years after the accident at Florence Colliery, Ray and Sue married on Easter Monday and the snooker legend joined Stoke-on-Trent’s police force in 1960.
In 1965, the couple welcomed their son Darren – just one year after Ray had won the English amateur championship.
With his wife’s encouragement, Ray began pursuing snooker professionally and went on to win the BBC tournament Pot Black in 1969 – the same year they welcomed daughter Melanie.
Eight-year affair with Carol
In the 1970s, Ray (pictured) became one of the world’s top snooker players and was given the nickname ‘Dracula’
Susan Reardon pictured after the snooker legend walked out on their marriage in 1985. The couple shared two children
In the 1970s, Ray became one of the world’s top snooker players and was given the nickname ‘Dracula’ thanks to an outfit he wore to the 1974 World Championships in Manchester.
Stoke-based Marsden’s Tailors sponsored Reardon and he emerged attired in cape, top hat and scarlet silk jacket.
‘Someone decided the outfit made me look like Dracula and that name stuck to me more than most,’ Reardon later said.
Ray is believed to have met his second wife Carol around 1977 – the year he broke his World Championship streak. The couple never revealed the circumstances in which they met or what Carol was doing for work at the time.
The pair embarked on an eight-year affair, which resulted in Ray finally leaving Sue in 1985 to live with Carol.
This same year, the couple had posed for a series of happy family photos with Darren and Melanie outside Buckingham Palace when the snooker player was awarded an OBE.
Trying to contain the growing scandal, the snooker player told the Daily Mirror at the time that his first wife had been ‘fully informed’ of his affair before he left.
Retreating from the limelight
Snooker legend Ray Reardon has died aged 91 following a battle with cancer, his wife Carol confirmed today
After the news of Ray’s affair was made public, the snooker star and Carol posed for one photoshoot together in their home before refusing to speak about their relationship again.
The couple married in June 1987 in a low-key ceremony at Paignton town hall.
Ray retired from the sport in 1991 and the couple lived in Devon for the remainder of Ray’s life – with the former sporting star serving as president of Churston Golf Club.
In 2004, he teamed up with Ronnie O’Sullivan in a mentoring role at the World Championship and helped to steer the Rocket to his second world title. He had received a call from O’Sullivan’s imprisoned father, Ronnie snr, to encourage the union.
Today’s sad announcement was the first time Carol Reardon had spoken publicly about her husband in decades.
A statement on the WST’s official website said: ‘Ray Reardon, widely regarded as one of the greatest snooker players ever and a six-time world champion, has died at the age of 91.’
Jimmy White said on X: ‘Gutted to hear my very good friend Ray Reardon has passed away.
‘A total class act and very kind to me when I was making my way in the game. A giant of the game. Rest in Peace mate.’
Piers Morgan posted: ‘Sad news. Brilliant player, and such a classy gentleman. RIP.’
Compatriot and three-time world champion Mark Williams told the World Snooker Tour’s official website: ‘Ray is one of the best sports people ever from Wales and the best snooker player. He’s one of the reasons why a lot of us started playing.
‘He put snooker on the map, alongside Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Steve Davis. Anyone playing now owes them a lot because they brought popularity to the game. He is a real inspiration.’