Stephen Hendry was FINED by snooker bosses due to his appearance on ITV’s The Masked Singer 

Stephen Hendry said he was “fined” by pool bosses after he had to “withdraw” from events due to his appearance on The Masked Singer.

The seven-time world champion, 54, was revealed as the character Rubbish on ITV’s celebrity singing show on Saturday.

Asked by the PA news agency what he told people he was doing while keeping his identity a secret, the former world number one said: “I have wild cards to play in some snooker events and actually withdrew from a couple of events and got fined by the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association) for doing so.

Stephen Hendry said he was “fined” by pool bosses after he had to “withdraw” from events due to his appearance on The Masked Singer.

And I couldn’t tell you why because this recording was going on and obviously I couldn’t say why I withdrew… I just said ‘Look, I can’t play the tournament.’

“So, yeah, it was very, very, very strange… you’re dying to tell people what you’re doing, but you can’t.”

The WPBSA, whose trading arm is the World Snooker Tour, administers the rules that oversee snooker tournaments.

Hendry said he agreed to appear on The Masked Singer because he “loves” the show and would remain anonymous during performances.

The seven-time world champion, 54, was revealed as the character Trash on Saturday.

The Scotsman added: “I was asked to do the other reality shows, but what drew me to this one obviously was the fact that you’re in costume.” Nobody can see you.

“And obviously (there’s) no stress: this isn’t a singing competition, it’s just a show where you go in this costume and have fun.”

He said that prior to entering the show, he had only done karaoke while in China, so he enlisted singing coach Mark De-Lisser to help him with his vocals.

Said Hendry: “(Mark) just pulled this out of me, that I didn’t know it was there, so it was really amazing and amazing to find that… I’m not saying I’m a great singer, but I’m better than I thought I was. .

He texted me after Saturday night and joked that the Christmas album was on the way, but yeah, just kidding. Look, that’s not going to happen.

Hendry dominated the sport during the 1990s (pictured in 1993 after winning the World Snooker Championship final)

The episode that unmasked Hendry drew an average viewership of 4.3 million viewers based on the evening’s ratings.

There was a peak of 5.1 million viewers, according to ITV.

Hendry said after the revelation, following his rendition of A Dustman from Lonnie Donegan’s My Old Man and the classic Kaiser Chiefs song Ruby, his phone went “wild” with messages from family and friends.

‘The main theme was ‘I can’t believe you did that’. I can’t believe you did that and I can’t believe you kept it quiet,'” she said.

“My son texted me and said, ‘I’ve watched the show every week.’ I’m lovin ‘it. I can’t believe you did that.’

“He didn’t even have a clue, so the feedback and reaction was incredible.”

:: The Masked Singer returns Saturday at 7pm on ITV and ITVX.