Ronnie O’Sullivan gave one snooker fan a surreal experience when he was spotted smoking a cigarette while waiting for a bus in York last week. The Rocket was up north competing in the UK Championship, which he won to bank a £250,000 cash prize shortly after the fan interaction video was posted to social media.

O’Sullivan is considered by many to be the greatest snooker player of all time, but that doesn’t stop the 48-year-old doing his best to go about daily life as normal. Just two days before Sunday’s UK Championship final in York, he was spotted at a bus stop wearing a blue beanie and smoking a cigarette by one particularly enthusiastic admirer.

“Look who I’ve got here,” said the fan in a video posted to TikTok. “Ronnie O’Sullivan, the star man! My blessed boy, the world legend of snooker. I’ve got him right here, mate. Oh my god, I can’t believe I met you. I was looking out for you. Bless you!”

O’Sullivan has previously spoken about his dislike of the limelight, but he smiled and laughed with the supporter before being left to catch his bus.

Two days later, the setting could hardly have been more different as O’Sullivan was lauded at the York Barbican for winning his record-extending eighth UK Championship title.

The Rocket’s most recent triumph came three decades after his first, with a 10-7 win over Ding Junhui sealing his 22nd Triple Crown victory, which puts him four ahead of fellow snooker icon Stephen Hendry at the top of the all-time list.

“I just dive into a double Snickers, a bag of cheese and onion, and a Diet Coke. Amazing. It hits the spot perfectly.”

O’Sullivan is set to follow up his UK Championship win by jetting off to China, where he is expected to compete in a Christmas Day exhibition in Macau alongside a number of leading snooker stars.