SNOOKER legend Steve Davis turned his back on BBC presenter Hazel Irvine live on air during coverage of the World Snooker Championship.
The icon was not impressed as Irvine reminded of his infamous and unlikely loss to Dennis Taylor in the 1985 final.
Steve Davis turned his back on Hazel Irvine live on airCredit: Refer to source
He was reminded of his famous loss to Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Snooker Championship final Credit: PA:Press Association
During an interval in the 2026 World Championship, Irvine discussed how the 1985 final was available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
She said: “Davis vs Taylor the 85 black ball final watch it now.
“Steve’s seen that one actually, every single night in his dreams for 41 years.”
Davis was then seen with his back turned to Irvine jokingly after she teased him about his loss in 1985.
She added: “Just to show you exactly how Steve feels about that, there he is.
“He’s not talking to me because I’m promoting all of that.”
The 1985 World Snooker Championship final was watched by millions and is commonly remembered as one of the greatest ever matches.
Davis went into it as the strong favourite – seeking a third consecutive world title.
World Snooker Championship 2026 - all the info
The world’s best snooker players are back at the Crucible for the World Championship.
Zhao Xintong arrives in Sheffield as the reigning champion and he will look to break a and lift the trophy again.
is out for his eighth crown as he tries to move ahead of Stephen Hendry’s seven on the all-time list.
World No1 , four-time champion Mark Selby and 2024 winner Kyren Wilson also fancy their chances of going all the way.
ALL THE INFO
LATEST NEWS
Davis and Dennis Taylor recreated the iconic final in 2024 Credit: The Times
The pair posed with the Snooker World Championship trophy during their exhibition match at the Crucible Credit: PA
The Nugget stormed to a 7-0 lead in the first session before extending to 9-1.
But Taylor recovered miraculously to tie the scores three times at 11-11, 15-15 and 17-17.
The deciding frame led to a number of shots on the black-ball with Taylor eventually potting it to take a famous win.
The historic match has since been known as “the black-ball final”.
It attracted a huge 18.5MILLION viewers which is still the record amount for .
The final lasted a total of 14 hours and 50 minutes – the longest ever recorded for a best-of-35-frames match.
.
Taylor spoke to the BBC in 2024 ahead of the reunion match.
He said: “Steve says he’ll remember that final more than the six that he won.
“If we’d ever thought there was that many people watching I don’t think we’d have been able to hold the cue.
“The audience kept building, and the BBC were cancelling programmes to stay with it, and it just built and built.
“The pressure on both of us was unbelievable, but we weren’t thinking, we were just concentrating on the game.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
and share the record for the , with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 –
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 –
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 –
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 –
- 1991 –
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 –
- 1998 –
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 –
- 2001 –
- 2002 –
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 –
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 –
- 2015 –
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 –
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 –
- 2024 –
- 2025 –
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
Eze Chidiebere Paul
I'm dedicated to creating high-quality content that informs, inspires, and delights. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch. Happy reading!
