David Beckham’s Studio 99 film crew are the production company who Ronnie O’Sullivan granted access-all-areas to during his gripping World Championship triumph.
O’Sullivan defeated rival Judd Trump 18-13 at The Crucible on Monday to clinch a record-equalling seventh world title and at 46, is the oldest player to win the tournament.
The maverick snooker player was known to be filming for a behind-the-scenes documentary and Sportsmail can now reveal it was Beckham’s company who were following him, gaining an unprecedented insight into how ‘The Rocket’ ticks away from the table.
‘Ronnie is one of the greatest to play any sport ever, his achievements and his character and story are unique and will make for a compelling documentary,’ a source close to the production said.
‘Ronnie felt it was time to tell his story and he has granted amazing access to the team. They have been with him through this whole build up and every frame of the final.
‘David has always been a huge admirer of Ronnie’s and loves him as a person and he is honoured that Ronnie has chosen Studio 99 to tell his story.’
Ronnie O’Sullivan was being followed by David Beckham’s film crew during his recent seventh World Championship triumph at The Crucible
A bidding war for the rights of the Studio 99 documentary is expected to follow, after O’Sullivan gave the crew unprecedented behind-the-scenes access
O’Sullivan and Beckham are friends, with a source telling Sportsmail that Beckham ‘has always been a huge admirer’ of the 46-year-old
A bidding war is expected to follow for access to the documentary, which will also see O’Sullivan chronicle his start in the game and his journey to seven world titles, a tally shared with the legendary Stephen Hendry.
Studio 99, meanwhile, have previously produced other shows such as Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League, which was shown on BBC Two, and the upcoming Save our Squad Disney+ series, which Beckham will present.
Speaking about the documentary in his press conference after winning the trophy on Monday, O’Sullivan said: ‘I don’t know if it’s going to be the best sports documentary ever – you’re going to have to watch it and find out.
‘What I can say is that I have given them complete access – to the point of where if you could put a fly on the wall and follow me for 17 days here, that is basically what has happened.
‘They’ve been in my dressing room, my hotel room before and after matches, after sessions. I embraced it because whatever I get involved in, I want to make it the best we can possibly do.
‘The access I gave them, they said they’ve never had that access with any other sportsman. Hopefully people watch it, enjoy it – they will get to see everything and it had a good ending as well.’
O’Sullivan said that he allowed the film crew to follow him everywhere, from his hotel room up to his dressing room after sessions where he was competing for the world title
O’Sullivan defeated rival Judd Trump 18-13 to claim a record-equalling seventh World Championship title – the latest instalment of an extraordinary career
Beckham’s Studio 99 have previously produced other shows such as Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League, which was shown on BBC Two
That said, O’Sullivan insisted he felt no extra pressure to win a seventh world championship due to the presence of the cameras.
‘Not at all – the documentary is being made because of all my previous successes and it was just about hopefully catching me doing well but actually the life, following me around,’ he said. ‘It was a bit of a challenge, I was up for it and sometimes I like a bit of a distraction. And it was a buzz to do it as well.’
One particular moment of interest to viewers will be O’Sullivan’s clash with Belgian referee Olivier Marteel during the first day of the final.
After asking a security guard to move out of his eyeline, O’Sullivan was 5-2 up and cruising. With the final frame of the session in the balance, O’Sullivan failed to get out of a snooker and returned to his seat. Marteel followed and accused him of making a gesture.
Pointing at the referee, O’Sullivan said: ‘Tell me, tell me, what did you see? You tell me what you saw. You saw nothing. Go look at the camera. You saw nothing. Don’t start.’
Marteel then approached Trump, who told him he should have waited until after the frame to deal with the matter.
He later left the arena without shaking hands with Marteel – as is customary between players and official – and then told Eurosport from his dressing room: ‘He just seems to be looking for trouble, I just get a vibe from the guy.
‘They’ve got hundreds of cameras out there — they can go and check them all. He’s trying to say… I’ll let the ref talk to you because I think he’s trying to create something. He needs to deal with it, not me.’
As it stands, no evidence of a gesture from O’Sullivan has surfaced.
It is the latest in an array of box-office moments O’Sullivan has produced throughout his career. He infamously once had to borrow shoes from tournament director Mike Ganley in 2015 – a man he had been fined for assaulting in 1996 at The Crucible – after playing in his socks against Craig Steadman because his own footwear was hurting him.
One moment of intrigue to viewers will be O’Sullivan’s fury at match referee Olivier Marteel, after being accused of making an obscene gesture at The Crucible
In 2015, O’Sullivan infamously played in bare feet because he said his footwear was hurting
O’Sullivan had to borrow shoes for his match against Craig Steadman at The Crucible, despite playing some frames in his socks
In August 2020, he said the younger players coming through in snooker are so bad, he’d have to lose ‘an arm and a leg’ to fall out of the world top 50.
‘People like me, John Higgins and Mark Williams, if you look at the younger players coming through, they are not that good really. Most of them would do well as half-decent amateurs, not even amateurs. They are so bad,’ he said.
‘A lot of them you see now, you look at them and think, “I would have to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50”. That is why we are still hovering around, because of how poor it is down that end.’
In 1996, he was accused by Canada’s Alain Robidoux of being disrespectful when he started playing left-handed with an 8-2 lead. Now, O’Sullivan’s ambidextrous skills are celebrated and seen as a yardstick of his talent.
‘I was aware that people might have thought I was taking the mickey,’ O’Sullivan said of the incident with Robidoux. ‘It was unfortunate for Alain, but he apologised to me a couple of years later and said he didn’t realise I could play as well as with my left. I accepted his apology. And we were good friends after that.’
In 1998, O’Sullivan was stripped of the Irish Masters title and fined £61,000 after testing positive for cannabis. He went into rehab in his mid-20s, a time O’Sullivan speaks of now with great importance.
‘It was the biggest life-changer for me,’ he once told The Guardian. ‘It was tough, but what I needed. Without the 12 steps, without taking myself out of society, without going to a treatment centre, maybe I wouldn’t have got to where I am today.’
In 2005, he lost 11 out of 14 frames to be defeated by Peter Ebdon but O’Sullivan, who shaved his head midway through the tournament, was irked by his opponent’s slow play
In 2005, his defence of the world title ran aground in controversial circumstances, when he surrendered 11 of the last 14 frames to lose to Peter Ebdon, who clearly riled O’Sullivan with his slow play during the quarter-final.
At one stage O’Sullivan, who shaved his head midway through the competition, asked an audience member for the time and even stood on Ebdon’s seat.
Afterwards, O’Sullivan said he was taking a break from snooker and might even say goodbye from the game altogether. But now, his stock has never been higher.
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