Snooker pundit was told to leave TV studio after ex-boyfriend said she was a distraction

Playing at the World Snooker Championship requires a level of laser focus with minimal distraction.

But not every potter is afforded that luxury no matter how much detail goes into their pre-match preparation.

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That was the scenario facing Mark Allen at the World Snooker Championship in 2021.

Things became a little too much for Allen when ex-partner Reanne Evans was tasked with providing expert punditry from the practice area at the Crucible.

Allen was gearing up for his match when former women’s world champion Evans was preparing a live broadcast.

Allen was perplexed by the bizarre turn of events, viewing it as a huge ‘distraction’ and had a quiet word with the broadcaster’s bigwigs.

That led to BBC chiefs informing Evans and her producers that they must leave the studio. The group reluctantly agreed but that was only half the story.

At the time, Evans and Allen were locked in a dispute over maintenance payments for their then 14-year-old daughter.

Evans was understood to be ‘embarrassed’ by the episode that saw her whittled out of the practice area at the iconic Sheffield arena.

A BBC spokesperson said: “For the sake of ten minutes, Reanne left the players’ practice room so Mark Allen could practise before his match without distraction upon his request.

“Her broadcast commitments weren’t affected.”

Allen, who was ranked world No. 13 at the time, made his feelings known before his first-round win in Sheffield over China’s Lyu Haotian.

“There have been several cases of players asking for ­people to be removed when they’re practising ahead of a match,” Allen said.

“I’m not sure why there is a fuss about this one.”

Allen came through his first round clash with ease with a 10-2 victory over Haotian to suggest that he quickly regained his focus following Evans’ exit.

But his Championships came to an abrupt end when he was beaten 13-7 by eventual winner Mark Selby in the second round.

Meanwhile, Evans has more than held her own on the snooker circuit.

She reached the semi-finals on her debut in the World Women’s Championship in 2002 at the age of just 1 before scooping her first world title three years later.

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Evans went on to win it a record 12 times and was handed the opportunity to try her hand on the professional tour in 2011.

She got the better of Robin Hull in a World Championship qualifying match in 2017 and took. Shaun Murphy to a decider two years later when she became the first female competitor at the Champion of Champions,

In 2023, Evans beat Stuart Bingham on live television in the Shoot Out and just last year she partnered Luca Brecel to victory in the World Mixed Doubles.