Inside Ronnie O'Sullivan's Dubai living situation after Judd Trump declares he's homeless
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump are two of the sports stars who opted to leave the UK and set up a new home in Dubai.
Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan isn’t the only high-profile star to trade the UK for a new life in Dubai. World No.1 Judd Trump relocated in 2025 but indicated he had been left homeless after leaving the UAE amid war in the Middle East. "I had to leave [Dubai] so we went to Bangkok. It's a bit up in the air at the moment,” Trump said. "I don't really think I can go back, just in case I get stuck there. Just kind of looking for somewhere else to live."
Trump, who said he has been living out of a hotel, revealed his brother had also been stuck in Dubai before eventually managing to get out. "Just trying to make the best of a bad situation. It's just difficult at the moment because you don't know where I'm going to be living,” he added. O’Sullivan, who reached the final of the World Open last week, also moved to Dubai in 2025 but divides his time between there and Hong Kong.
Despite moving to an Arabic-speaking country, O’Sullivan doesn’t speak the language himself. However, he told The Sunday Times this wasn't necessarily always a bad thing.
“One of the beauties of not knowing the language is I don’t really want to talk to everyone that I come in contact with,” he said. “I know it sounds terrible but we just smile at each other, hello, and it’s good.”
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O’Sullivan announced plans to move to the Middle East with wife Laila Rouass after his 2025 World Championships run. The year before that, he moved to Hong Kong under the 'Quality Migrant Admission Scheme' and spoke about his reasons for leaving the UK.
"I've spent a lot of time in Hong Kong. I've had many really nice trips here, got some good friends here, I enjoy my stay here,” he said at the time. “And obviously, snooker is very popular here as well. If you want to have a good life, you should come to Hong Kong."
When the time came to leave their base in Chigwell, O’Sullivan and Rouass considered some options in the UK and Europe. However, Dubai won out due in part to its usefulness for the tournament circuit.
“My wife wasn't too keen on Sheffield. So she said we either go to Spain or Dubai,” he told The Sun. “And I thought, well, Dubai is nearer China. Obviously, it's in the Middle East. All the tournaments that I play and all the work that I do is there. It just made sense to go to Dubai.
"Really enjoying it out there. Great gyms. I'm enjoying that side of it. I had some friends over there before that played snooker and they've helped me get into Dubai life."
