Ronnie O’Sullivan says he ‘went out every night for six years’ and needed drink and drugs ‘to be confident’ as he opens up on addiction and partying with Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards

Ronnie O’Sullivan has described his battle with addiction as the ‘worst time of my life’ and revealed he ‘hated’ himself throughout the process.

One of the best athletes of his generation, O’Sullivan was outspoken early in his career about his struggles away from the gridiron and his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

The snooker legend turned professional at the age of 16, when he also saw his father taken to prison with a life sentence for murder.

The 47-year-old was stripped of his Irish Masters title in 1998 after testing positive for cannabis and two years later entered rehab and checked into the Priory Clinic.

‘I went out all the time. Every day and every night for six years,” he told the newspaper Stick with the football podcast with Sky bet.

O’Sullivan has been open about his struggles away from the cloth and his addiction

“There would come a time when I had to get clean because there was a tournament coming up, where I locked myself at home because I couldn’t say no.”

However, working with the likes of the Rolling Stones and living the life of a rock star eventually lost its appeal for O’Sullivan.

The addiction prevented him from exercising properly, which in turn negatively affected his mental health and his ongoing battle with depression.

‘I couldn’t train properly at that time. When I think about it, it was the worst time of my life,” he said.

‘It was fun for the first two or three years, but in the last three years it wasn’t fun anymore and I felt like I had let myself down. I hated myself and then I couldn’t look at myself.

I had great nights with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and many of them turned into days out – they knew how to party.

‘I thought I was being good and reckless, but they had this arrangement where they would have a different drink at different times of the day, then sleep for two or three hours and leave again.’

O’Sullivan admitted that during his low points he relied on alcohol and drugs to get through the day as he seriously struggled with his self-confidence.

“My biggest regret was that I took a drink and a drug to get through my bad times, and it spiraled out of control,” he explained.

“I think that’s why I’m grateful for everything I have now, because I think back on those six years [of his battle with addiction] with people telling me at the time that they would get me out, and I would be happy and clean and playing snooker.

O’Sullivan turned professional in 1993 at the age of 16 and won his first world title in 2000

The 47-year-old won his seventh world title at the Crucible last year

“I remember those times, so I know I should be grateful that I came out the other side, because a lot of people don’t.

‘You see plenty of athletes who don’t come back from that bad place and keep going downhill.’

The world number 1 recalled that his struggle with addiction became apparent when he realized his self-confidence was so low he had to drink to play a round of golf.

“When I went out, I couldn’t play a round of golf without having a few drinks and a few joints in my pocket because I didn’t have the confidence to be myself,” he said.

‘Then I thought I was in trouble.

‘I had three TVs in my hotel room for different things because I didn’t want to go out and meet people, so then I had to get this sorted out.

‘I called someone from a drug hotline, they took me to a priory and I got clean.’

O’Sullivan recently opened up about his struggles in the Amazon Prime documentary Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything, starring David Beckham as executive director

O’Sullivan recently talked about his struggle in the United States Amazon Prime documentary, Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything.

The documentary was produced by David Beckham’s Studio 99 and O’Sullivan admitted that being followed by the cameras was extra motivation to win a seventh world title at the Crucible last year.

“Once I let the cameras in, I wasn’t going to break down and give a half-hearted performance,” he said earlier this month.

“I knew I had to give 100 percent because I knew I had to watch it back and I didn’t want to cheat the audience.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan spoke on the Stick to Football podcast, which he brought to you Sky bet.