Ronnie O'Sullivan puts name in frame for Top Gear job...but only to replace Jeremy Clarkson's replacement

'I love my cars and that would be the dream job'

Ronnie O'Sullivan wants a career change (GETTY IMAGES)

It has long been clear that Ronnie O’Sullivan does not regard snooker as his dream profession – “Really, I don’t think it is for me”, the five-time world champion said in 2013. So what would he love to do for a living then?

“I’d love to have the Top Gear job,” he said on Friday. The BBC’s flagship motoring show is looking for a new presenter after long-time host Jeremy Clarkson was sacked for scrapping with his producer, and O’Sullivan was keen to put forward his candidacy ahead of his World Championship second-round match against Matthew Stevens at the Crucible on Saturday.

“I said to my agent when that job came up: ‘I want it’, but whether I’m equipped to do it I don’t know. [But] I’d definitely be up for it. I don’t know if I’d want to follow in Jeremy Clarkson’s footsteps though – I’ll let someone else do that and get the sack and then I’ll take it after them. I love my cars and that would be the dream job.”

On the prospect of continuing in snooker, O’Sullivan added: “I’m not 100 per cent committed to it like the other guys. I still try to play enough to keep involved but also allow time to do other stuff.”

Meanwhile, World Championship debutant Anthony McGill was last night within three frames of dispatching reigning champion Mark Selby following a strong end to their opening session on Friday.

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson

McGill, tipped by O’Sullivan as a future winner of the tournament in Sheffield, rattled off three winning frames to lead the second-round match 10-6 after the rivals had started the day locked on 4-4.

All the momentum heading into the evening session will be with the 24-year-old Glaswegian after he seized the last frame 72-3 as breaks of 54 and 18 swept him out of sight.