World Snooker Championship semi-finalist Shaun Murphy has endured a series of struggles as he competes for silverware at the Crucible. More than two decades after sensationally claiming the World Snooker Championship as a qualifier, Murphy has his sights firmly set on Crucible glory once more. He faces John Higgins in the semi-finals of this year's tournament, having previously lifted the trophy back in 2005.
'The Magician', who wrapped up Thursday's session level at four frames apiece with Higgins, is one of the most cherished characters on the World Snooker Tour and has taken a winding road to reach this stage. That turbulent journey has included two divorces, surgery that 'saved his life' and a long-running feud with arguably the best player of all time.
Murphy, 43, has been through two marriages before his current engagement to fiancée Jo. The Essex-born star wed his first wife, Clare, shortly after his World Championship triumph in 2005. However, their marriage collapsed after Murphy became embroiled in a scandal in The People, which exposed that he had spent the night with an escort while separated from Clare in 2008. Murphy subsequently claimed the woman was a former girlfriend he'd reconnected with through Facebook, though he maintained he was unaware of her profession and insisted there had been no infidelity.
He went on to meet his second wife, Elaine, with whom he has two children, Harry and Molly. The couple tied the knot in 2016 and relocated to Dublin in an attempt to save their marriage but eventually called it quits in 2023. 'We tried to reconcile and it will be nice to look back in years to come and know we tried absolutely everything to make our marriage work,' he once reflected on their relationship. 'It's amicable. We move on as friends and our whole lives now become about raising our children and protecting them from everything that people go through in life, because life's not easy.'
At the height of his depression, Murphy's weight soared to 20 stone. Consequently, he chose to have a gastric sleeve operation in 2022 in an attempt to control his eating intake. The veteran previously revealed he was in a 'very, very bad state mentally' due to his weight increase. And he attributes the gastric sleeve with saving his life considering the psychological impact his physique was having on his overall wellbeing. 'The surgery that I had in May last year has changed my life from top to bottom,' he once told Eurosport. 'I think whilst I did not go to see a doctor, had I have done I think someone would have signed me off with complete full depression. I was in a very, very bad state mentally. My self-esteem was through the floor and I did not want to go out and play. I did not want to leave the house and that spiralled into feeling miserable and eating more. I don't think it is too extreme to say it was life-saving for me.'
Murphy revealed in 2025 that he continues to harbour resentment towards Ronnie O'Sullivan for the way he was treated when he was a young player. The grudge dates back more than 30 years.
