Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan talked about his alcohol and drug addiction and how he lost about six to seven years due to it.
The 47-year-old English snooker champion said there are massive gaps in his life that he lost to alcohol, drug and mental health problems.
While speaking to BBC on Thursday, the seven-time champion opened up about some dark days of his life.
"I lost six, seven years to drinking and taking cannabis. Then four years of dealing with stuff away from the table which I didn't deal with very well,” he said. "I wasn't focusing on snooker. But I suppose everyone has those problems, but there's 10 years there where I didn't really do much. I didn't practise much, I didn't have the head space to win.”
He also talked about how he needed to take substances just to start socialising again.
"I lost my personality and confidence and needed to take substances just to feel like I could socialise," added Ronnie. "Then you get clean, and you become awkward in social situations and you think 'how do I deal with these situations?' You get a bit anxious and it started to affect me in certain ways. How do I live clean?”
"It was weird - I had to learn to do all that stuff again. It took time but once I got there, I realised you have to carve out a different life for yourself. Maybe I'm not suited for X, Y and Z,” he continued.
The 47-year-old has recently switched to running in order to help his mental health and also said that he just likes to enjoy playing snooker now rather than pressuring himself to win.
"My happy place is going running in the morning and I go out with my running friends, and I'm cool with that. Put me in an environment where there's lots of people and I run for the corner," he said.
"I always loved my sport and that's what's most important to me. That strips away any temptations of going out," O’Sullivan added. "I think going to rehab taught me happiness is an inside job, which I truly believe. So since that moment in 2000, I've always believed that.”