JIMMY WHITE lived a wild life away from the snooker table – until being tamed by former Miss Blackpool Jade Slusarczyk.
The snooker legend – known affectionately as The Whirlwind – was famed for his party antics during the 80s and 90s.
Jimmy White is one of snooker’s great personalities[/caption]
White has been dating 39-year-old Jade Slusarczyk since 2018[/caption]
Jade is a walk-on girl for Sky Sports and a former Miss Blackpool[/caption]
Six-time World Snooker finalist White credits Jade with helping him off the table[/caption]
White, 62, won the English Amateur Championship in 1979 and turned pro a year later.
He would go on to become a six-time World Championship finalist, infamously losing on each occasion.
The 62-year-old has reached 24 ranking finals over his illustrious career, banking almost £5million in prize money.
But White has since revealed he gambled away the majority of his fortune, as well as suffering a crippling drink and drug habit.
Speaking to the Anything Goes podcast in 2021, White said: “I gambled at least three million quid, so if I gambled three million quid I probably had to earn six or seven million to get that.
“That’s a lump, that’s retirement money, so I should be more sick with that.
“But because at the time it was going so f***ing quick you don’t think do you.
“I went bankrupt through gambling.”
White admitted in his 2014 autobiography to throwing away a chunk of his fortune on crack cocaine.
He told Louis Theroux‘s documentary Gods of Snooker: “Cocaine was absolutely everywhere.
“It was like the devil’s dandruff, but crack – it’s evil. I tried smoking it and got completely addicted.
“I remember I had £35,000 in an account and I drained that on crack.”
White, who has five children from a previous relationship, began dating Jade – who is 23 years his junior – in 2018.
They met at a Snooker Shoot Out tournament in Jade’s home town of Blackpool and hit it off.
Jade told The Mirror with a laugh: “He told me he was 35 when I met him.
“I didn’t even know who he was or that he was famous.”
World Snooker Championship 2025
WE are BACK at the Crucible for another thrilling fortnight of snooker action!
There will be a new champion this year after reigning champ Kyren Wilson crashed out in the first round after a stunning performance from Lei Peifan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will take to the snooker table after missing recent tournaments, while world no 1 Judd Trump heads into the tournament as the favourite.
The likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and John Higgins are also expected to be contenders.
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And White credits Jade, 39, with helping him kick the habit and stay off the booze.
The snooker star told The Sun on Sunday: “It’s impossible to say how much I used to drink in my wild days.
“It was drink after drink and line after line and I’d go missing for days.
“It took 15 years to get sober and I don’t miss that life at all.
“Jade’s helped me because she doesn’t drink.
“I’ve never been so happy and I’m pleased to say my life is in a good place.
“I haven’t got a zillion in the bank but I have my family and Jade.
“I didn’t think for a minute she’d go out with me, because of the age difference.
“It’s a miracle she fancies me. But she doesn’t care about the age difference, so why should I?
“She’s my girlfriend and she’s fit so I’m happy. She’s a beautiful girl, inside and out.”
Jade currently works as a walk-on girl for Sky Sports.
She is a regular at the broadcaster’s darts events and showcases her adventures to her 9,000 Instagram followers.
I have to be medicated and all that and it’s completely changed my life.
Jimmy White on his ADHD diagnosis
White recently revealed he had been diagnosed with ADHD – and believes it played a big part in shaping his life on and off the table.
White told Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips podcast: I got diagnosed with ADHD about two years ago.
“I’ve had to work. With ADHD you think about fifteen things at once.
“So I’m now down to sort of like normal. I have to be medicated and all that and it’s completely changed my life.
“When you’re under pressure, looking back all these things were going through my mind and all of a sudden I’m starting to miss everything.
“The pockets are closing up as I’m hitting them and the balls are getting like footballs.
“That for me now, looking back, if I’d known what I had I’d have been able to refocus better. That was a big thing.”