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 finest sportsmen of his generation, O'Sullivan has been outspoken about  his struggles away from the baize and his addiction to drugs and alcohol early in his career.

The snooker legend turned professional at the age of 16, when he also saw his father being taken to prison on 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 he entered rehab, checking himself into the Priory Clinic.

'I was going out all the time. Every day and every night constantly for six years,' he told the Stick to Football podcast with Sky Bet.

'There would be time when I’d need to get clean as I had a tournament coming up, where I’d lock myself at home as I couldn’t say no.'

Rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Rolling Stones and living the life of a rock star, however, eventually lost its appeal for O'Sullivan.

The addiction prevented him from training properly, which in turn had a negative impact on his mental health and ongoing struggles with depression.

'I couldn’t train well during that time. It was the worst time of my life when I think about it,' he said.

'The first two or three years it was fun, but in the last three years it wasn’t fun anymore and I felt like I had let myself down. I hated myself and that was when I couldn’t look at myself. 

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

'I thought I was good and reckless, but they had it down to a tee where they had a different drink for different times of the day, then they’d sleep for two or three hours and go again.' 

O'Sullivan admitted during his lowest points he relied on alcohol and drugs to simply get through the day, as he badly struggled with self confidence. 

'My biggest regret was picking up a drink and a substance to get through my bad times, and it got out of hand,' he explained. 

'I think that’s why I feel grateful for everything I’ve got now because I remember those six years [of his battle with addiction] with people telling me they were going to get me out of it at the time, and I was going to be happy and clean and playing snooker.

'I remember those times, so I know to be grateful that I’ve come out the other end because a lot of people don’t. 

'You see plenty of sports people who don’t get back from that bad place and keep going downhill.'

The world No1 recalled his struggle with addiction became apparent when he realised his self-confidence was so low he needed to drink to play a round of golf. 

'When I was going out, I couldn’t play a round of golf without having a few drinks and a couple of spliffs in my pocket because I didn’t have the confidence to be myself,' he said.

'That is when I thought that I was in trouble.

'I had three TVs in my hotel room for different things as I didn’t want to go out and face people, so that is when I needed to get this sorted. 

'I phoned someone from a drugs helpline, they got me into 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. 

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

'Once I'd let the cameras in, I wasn't going to crumble and give a half-hearted display,' he said earlier this month. 

'I knew I had to give 100 per cent because I knew I was going to have to watch it back and I didn't want to defraud the public.'

Ronnie O’Sullivan was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, broughy to you by Sky Bet.