Seven-time snooker world champion Stephen Hendry is currently on BBC punditry duty for the Masters, but what do we know about the Scottish great’s own career and personal life?
Stephen Hendry quickly became one of snooker’s most exciting stars after turning pro at the age of 16 in 1985.
The Scot achieved his first Snooker World Championship just five years later, becoming the sport’s youngest-ever winner at the age of 21 years and 106 days – a record which he still holds to this day. He held the number one spot in the world rankings between April 1990 and May 1998, and went on to collect seven world titles in total over the course of his career.
Hendry also saw success at The Masters, lifting six titles at the prestigious tournament – including five consecutive between 1989 and 1993 – as well as five UK Championships, ensuring that he will go down as one of the all-time greats. And while he retired for a second time in June 2024, he is still very much involved in the game from a punditry perspective.
Fans tuning into the BBC’s coverage of the 2025 Masters will have heard the now 56-year-old giving a wealth of analysis alongside the likes of Steve Davis, John Parrott, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor. But what do we know about Hendry’s personal life? Here, Mirror Sport breaks it down…
What is Stephen Hendry’s net worth?
Thanks to an incredible career in the world of snooker, Hendry is reported to hold a net worth of around £13.5million ($16.5m). The legend of the game achieved 36 ranking tournament wins over the course of his career from 57 finals, including four European Masters and British Opens a-piece.
In terms of non-ranking titles, Hendry also played his way to 65 finals while securing 40 wins in total – his last coming in the form of a 1-0 2023 Seniors 900 victory over Jimmy White. Hendry has also seen success in team tournaments, lifting a World Doubles Championship and a World Masters Men’s Doubles alongside Mike Hallett, a World Cup and a Nations Cup for Scotland, and a Euro-Asia Team Challenge with Team Europe.
Thanks to his remarkable list of achievements in the world of snooker, Hendry received a MBE in 1994 – while he was also named the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year in 1987 and 1996.
Who is Stephen Hendry’s girlfriend?
Hendry met his first wife Amanda Tart at Pontins when he was just 16, tying the knot in 1995 and having two sons together in Blaine and Carter. However, the couple divorced in 2014 following a 19-year marriage, with Hendry becoming involved with children’s entertainer and actress Lauren Thundow.
Writing in his autobiography, Me and The Table, Hendry wrote: “I first met Lauren when she was selling merchandise after a Legends snooker exhibition. She’s attractive and we smile at each other but I think nothing of it. Gradually, we start to say, ‘Hi’, and share a bit of small talk.
“I would never be one to go striding over to any woman who caught my eye – after all. I’m the person who got to know my wife’s parents before I plucked up the courage to talk to her. As time goes on, we chat more often. It’s becoming clear we have a connection.”
Hendry also detailed the moment that he told Tart that their marriage was over, explaining: “Driving back from a shopping trip, my wife Mandy asks me what’s wrong. She assumes it’s money-related. I tell her it isn’t. Then she tells me to stop the car, saying that we’re not going an inch further until I tell her what’s going on.
“So I do. I tell her that I have feelings for someone else. She is shocked and devastated.” Thundow was 26 and Hendry was 45 when they first met, a 19-year difference between the two. Their relationship status is not currently known, with both keeping their private lives away from the limelight.
Are Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan friends?
While Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan have had an incredibly close rivalry in the world of snooker over the years, the two men are incredibly friendly with each other. Hendry’s collection of seven world titles stood as a modern-era record until O’Sullivan equalled it in 2022, with Hendry being pressed on numerous occasions about how he would feel to lose his record altogether should the 49-year-old win an eighth.
Explaining his thoughts in a 2024 interview with Andy Goldstein, Hendry said: “No, listen, I’m not going to lie. I won’t be happy if he does it. But he’s an unbelievable player and he’s taken the game to new levels. In a way, it will take the pressure off, I won’t get asked anymore.”
Meanwhile, speaking to Ali Carter on his Cue Tips YouTube channel earlier in the year, Hendry revealed that O’Sullivan doesn’t have many close friends. He said: “He’s not the easiest person. Down the years I’ve known him, sometimes I go months without really speaking to him and other times I spend a lot of time with him.
“I don’t know if it’s deliberate or not but he doesn’t have many close friends, I don’t think. He doesn’t really socialise much with other players.” On the flip side, O’Sullivan dubbed Hendry one of his heroes in a 2023 interview with Metro, saying: “I love it [snooker] so much, I am grateful for what it has done for me, it has given me an amazing life with amazing moments. I have been the most successful player, along with Stephen Hendry.
“He was my hero and I am happy to share the seven world titles with him. But I am up there, and I have to pinch myself. As a kid I used to rush home from school to watch World Championships. There was Joe Johnson and I went to see Steve Davis when I was 14 beat John Parrott in the final session. And now I am here playing.”