With his colourful waistcoats, booming catchphrases and dazzling trick shots, John Virgo was one of Britain’s most recognisable snooker stars – but behind the TV smiles lay a private battle that nearly destroyed him.
At the height of his fame, the legendary player and broadcaster was secretly spiralling into a £200,000 gambling addiction that cost him two marriages, his family home and left him facing bankruptcy after hitting rock bottom.
Virgo, who died today aged 79, later revealed how he ended up relying on the kindness of friends after his three-bedroom Surrey house was repossessed, admitting his life had unravelled as betting debts mounted and his career faltered.
Salvation finally came in the form of publishing executive Rosie Ries, who became his third wife in 2009 and helped him rebuild his life after decades of turmoil – a love story that saw the snooker great quietly find happiness in Spain after years of despair.
The youngest of five children from a working-class Salford family, Virgo’s journey from poverty to primetime television was remarkable but it was his wife’s steady support that ultimately got him back on track after his darkest days.
The youngest of five children from a working class family, Virgo was born in Salford on March 4, 1946.
His father earned £9.50-a-week as a crane driver at Salford Docks but the family barely had enough to make ends meet.
He has told how his shoes and trousers were paid for in weekly instalments and the family would hide when the rent man called round.
John Virgo, whose death was announced on Wednesday, pictured with his third wife Rosie Ries who he married in 2009
Virgo playing in the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield in 1990
Virgo left school at 15 to work as an invoice clerk at a steel firm while touring northern snooker parlours ‘playing for stakes’ in his spare time.
In 1971, he won the British youth championships then was one of eight amateur players invited to play in a tournament staged by Granada Television.
By then, he was married to first wife Susan who had given birth to son Gary. He won the tournament but was not allowed to receive any prize money so he asked organisers for £350 in Mothercare vouchers instead.
In 1973 Virgo appeared in cult TV pub sports programme The Indoor League where he got through to the semi-final of the American pool tournament.
He became a professional snooker player three years later and despite being 30 he was one of the youngest players on the circuit at the time.
Virgo reached the semi-finals of the World Championship 1979 and won his first major tournament – the UK Championship the same year.
But as his form dropped in the 1980’s and exhibition work dried up, Virgo tried to supplement his income through gambling.
At one point he borrowed £200,000 against his mortgage over six years ‘just to keep up the pretence’ that he was successful.
He said he became trapped in ‘a vicious circle’.
As his gambling spiralled out of control at one point he lost £10,000 in two weeks while TV star Des O’Connor, who was also a notorious betting man, offered to be his bookie.
Virgo and wife Rosie 1995. Virgo ended up living with a ‘friend of a friend’ in a small house in Stoke D’Abernon, Surrey and it was here that he first met Rosie
English snooker players Willie Thorne (left) and Virgo during their first round match at the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, April 1983
Former player and broadcaster Virgo has died at the age of 79. He is pictured in 2007
Opening up about his struggles in 2017 Virgo said: ‘There was pressure on me to have the newest car, a more expensive holiday. It was all about keeping up appearances.
‘When the results weren’t coming on the snooker table, I tried to supplement things by gambling on horses even more. I went through a period when I was addicted to gambling.
‘It was a compulsion that I struggled to get to grips with. By 1990, it was in danger of ruining my life.
‘I was borrowing against the mortgage just to keep up the pretence that I was successful. Looking back, I see it was crazy. I think a lot of players may have had issues with gambling.
‘You are brought up in that environment – hustling in the snooker clubs to earn a few quid and, if there was no one to play, you’d go in the bookies. ‘
To make matters worse Virgo bought a racehorse called Jokist which never developed into a top-class runner.
Virgo told how he became so attached to the horse he turned down attractive offers to sell it and ended up around £60,000 out of pocket through the venture.
By now Virgo was married to second wife Avril with whom he has a daughter Brooke-Leah. The marriage collapsed in 1991 after eight years as Virgo’s life began to unravel.
He said: ‘My financial misfortunes coincided with my second marriage falling apart.
‘When I started borrowing against the mortgage, it coincided with a sharp rise in interest rates and my mortgage rose from £40,000 to £200,000.
‘I had to hand the keys back and move in with a friend. Just about all I owned was my car.’
After the family home was repossessed, Virgo ended up living with a ‘friend of a friend’ in a small house in Stoke D’Abernon, Surrey and it was here that he first met Rosie.
Virgo with his wife Rosie at DJ Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart’s funeral in Bournemouth in 2016
Big Break was a popular 1990s game show hosted by Jim Davidson and John Virgo on the BBC
But it was more than 20 years before he struck up the courage to ask her out on a date.
He once explained: ‘A mate tried to set us up years ago but then his girlfriend said she wouldn’t be interested in me.
‘I was so frightened of a knock-back, I didn’t ask her for out for 22 years.
‘By then I’d lived on my own for five years and I needed that time to re-centre myself. But eventually we went on a date. I used my wit, charm and repartee on her and, blow me down, two months later we got engaged.’
He described their wedding day as ‘the best day of my life’ before adding of their marriage: ‘It’s been absolutely wonderful.’
By the time the couple tied the knot Virgo’s fortunes had long been revived.
His luck changed when he landed the job alongside Davidson on Big Break which ran from 1991 to 2002 and attracted audiences of up to 14 million at its peak.
Alongside his new presenting career came appearances on chat shows, morning television and even being ‘gunged’ on Noel’s House Party.
He developed his own line of waistcoats, wrote books and appeared in pants before developing his own app which showed off his trick shot skills.
Reflecting on the success of Big Break he once said: ‘I always remember, Jim had a bit of a reputation in the business for being hard work.
‘A few people asked me, ‘How are you getting on working with Jim Davidson’. I said, ‘He doesn’t bother me, I worked with (Alex) Higgins for 20 years!’. I wasn’t daunted by working with Jim.
‘It’s a funny thing about life. He’s your crafty Conservative comedian and I’m your dour northern socialist. How do you come up with that – but obviously the chemistry worked.’
As Davidson’s career declined amid controversy and cancel culture, Virgo would go on to defend him calling a ‘waste of talent’ that the comedian was no longer on TV.
And while he retired from playing in 1994 he remained ever present on screen as a BBC snooker commentator famously coining the catchphrase: ‘Where’s the cue ball going?!’
Snooker legend John Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979. He is pictured in 1994
While he became a much-loved voice behind the microphone, there were moments of controversy.
In 2009, Virgo apologised for a racially insensitive remark made during a BBC broadcast, where he used a phrase containing a derogatory pun about a Chinese player’s ‘chink in his armour.’
There were further apologies in 2016 when Virgo was caught swearing during a World Championship semi-final broadcast after he muttered frustration about missing horse racing coverage thinking his mic had been turned off.
But such was his popularity that three years ago he saw off BBC plans to retire him and fellow snooker icon Dennis Taylor following a fans’ backlash.
His last commentary for the BBC came just 17 days ago when Kyren Wilson beat John Higgins in the Masters final.
Despite his ups and downs, Virgo told three years ago when it was announced he was going to be inducted into the World Snooker Tour’s Hall of Fame, that he had few regrets.
He said: ‘Listen, I’m never going to complain about the way it has turned out because I always feel I’m very lucky.’
Speaking of a conversation he had had with Taylor and Steve Davis at an exhibition match he said: ‘We all say this as the bottom line – we feel lucky we walked into a snooker club with our ripped trousers and we managed to be good at a game that took us all around the world.
‘Particularly as someone coming from Salford – I consider that to be a right result.’
