Ronnie O’Sullivan hints at following in Bear Grylls’ footsteps and wants to be thrown totally out of his comfort zone
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has hinted at following in Beat Grylls’ footsteps after his snooker career.
The seven-time world champion revealed he wants to be thrown totally out of comfort zone.
That could even be by emulating the adventurer’s survival challenges once he hangs up his cue.
O’Sullivan has recently opened up on the prospect of retirement in the near future.
The 48-year-old has not played since his “embarrassing” defeat at the English Open last month.
After slamming his own performance at the event, the Rocket pulled out of both the British Open and Wuhan Open.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, though, he explained he still has three more years at the top of the sport.
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan backed himself to survive if he was stranded in isolation, similar to some of Grylls’ hit TV shows.
He revealed: “I would love to experience being thrown somewhere that I’ve got to survive. Like Bear Grylls. So that is something I would quite look forward to.”
Asked if he would be good at the practical aspects of the challenge, such as lighting a fire and building a shelter, he added: “I’d learn, I’d learn.
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“I had a canal boat and my mate used to have his fire on and I’d be like ‘that’s a good fire you’ve got there Paul.’ And he’d say ‘well you do this, you do that.’
“So I’d go back to my boat and I’d do it and go ‘Paul, my fire’s not going like yours. What am I doing wrong?’
“So he’d come round and go ‘right, you’ve got to do this, do that.’ And I’d do that and it was roaring.
“I could never quite get it right but it’s because I was only there for a few days and then I was gone for a couple of months. Once you kind of get into it, you can learn to do anything really.”
O’Sullivan also detailed how he hopes to win a record eighth world title before he ends his career.
He has already been victorious at the Crucible seven times, most recently in 2022.
However, he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Stuart Bingham back in May.