Jimmy White's net worth, drug addiction, dog kidnapping and 23-year girlfriend age gap

Jimmy White is perhaps the greatest player to never win the despite reaching six finals. He was beaten on every occasion, leaving him without the biggest prize the sport has to offer. The 62-year-old has since triumphed at the World Senior Championships on four occasions, a record unmatched by any other player.

White was a household name at the peak of his powers and won two of snooker's Triple Crown events, the in 1984 and the in 1992. He would thrill fans with his swift and aggressive style of play, earning him the iconic Whirlwind nickname. White is also known for his exploits away from the table, having struggled in his personal life at times.

From a crippling drug addiction to a relationship with a two-decade age gap, here is everything you need to know about White's life outside of snooker...

Impressive net worth

White raked in plenty of prize money throughout his career, having won a total of 37 ranking and non-ranking titles. More recently, he has ventured into media work and is currently serving as a pundit on TNT Sports for the World Snooker Championship.

His ventures have given him an impressive net worth of around £6.7million, according to . While impressive, it pales in comparison with many other snooker icons. Ronnie O'Sullivan, for example, is thought to be worth a staggering £20m.

Crack cocaine addiction

White opened up on his battle with addiction in his autobiography, Second Wind, revealing that he smoked crack cocaine with his close friend and fellow player Kirk Stevens in a hotel room at the Irish Masters.

"Sounds far-fetched, doesn't it? But for about three crazy months it was true," he wrote. "I think Kirk tried it first, but I'm my own man and I don't blame anyone else for making me do something as stupid as smoking crack."

He later revealed that his short-lived addiction to the drug cost him thousands of pounds, admitting: "I had one sneaky account with NatWest. I started dipping into this every now and then to fund my crack habit. I did the lot in less than three months."

White eventually decided to kick the habit, but the withdrawal symptoms meant he was living in a nightmare until they began to subside after around two weeks.

"I barely moved, lying in bed, crying, shivering, paranoid, angry and covered in cold sweats," he said. "I felt like I was dying, but I knew I had to stick with it. I was a father. I was a husband. I had this snooker gift that I was smoking away."

Having his dog kidnapped

Having a dog stolen is a pet owner's worst-case scenario and White experienced it for himself when a gang of thieves kidnapped his bull terrier named Splinter.

"When my dog went missing, I put these posters out everywhere because he used to go missing a lot," in 2017.

"Anyway, day three comes and my kids are crying. I'm out every day searching for my dog. Someone came back to me and said: "We've got your dog but we swapped it for a lurcher for £300', which was the amount I had put on the reward.

"It's a load of b*******, obviously. Anyway, he sent this guy. When I met him at the clock tower at midnight, a rainy night in the winter, I went into this passageway and this geezer comes out and goes: 'Jimmy White!'

"He's gone: 'Jimmy, I'm getting £150 for this. I don't want the £150. Here's your dog. Just give the £150 that I've got to give to the people'. I said: 'Look, take the £300. I just want my dog back'.

"With that, he's given a sign and a little white van comes from over the street. They've opened the back door, taken the dog out and gone to drive off. My dog is so dopey that he's gone to jump back in the f****** van."

Age gap with girlfriend

White is currently in a long-term relationship with Jade Slusarczyk, who was previously a darts walk-on girl for Sky Sports. They initially met in 2018, seven years after Slusarczyk had been crowned Miss Blackpool.

There is a huge age gap between the pair, with the snooker legend now 62 and his partner just 39. However, they are thriving in spite of their disparity in years, something which White believes is nothing short of a miracle.

"It's a miracle she fancies me," . "But she doesn't care about the age difference, so why should I? She's my girlfriend, and she's fit, so I'm happy."

A year after meeting, Slusarczyk revealed that White had not been entirely truthful about his age at the first instance. She explained: "He told me he was 35. I didn't even know who he was or that he was famous."