Stephen Hendry ‘fined’ by snooker chiefs after Masked Singer absences

Stephen Hendry said he was “fined” by snooker bosses after he had to “pull out” of events due to his appearance on The Masked Singer. The 54-year-old Scottish player, who

is a former world champion, was revealed as the character Rubbish on the ITV celebrity singing show on Saturday. Asked by the PA news agency what he told people he was doing

while keeping his identity a secret, Hendry said: “I do have wildcards to play in some snooker events and I actually pulled out of a couple of events and got fined by the WPBSA

(World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association) for doing it. “And I couldn’t tell them why because this recording was going on and I couldn’t obviously say why I

pulled out… I just said ‘Look, I can’t play the tournament’. “So, yeah, it was, very, very, very strange… you’re dying to tell people what you’re doing but you

can’t.” The WPBSA, whose commercial arm is the World Snooker Tour, manages the rules overseeing snooker tournaments. Hendry said he agreed to take part in The Masked

Singer because he “loves” the show and he would be anonymous during the performances. He added: “I have been asked to do the other reality shows, but the thing that appealed

to me about this one obviously was the fact that you are in a costume. Nobody can see you. “And obviously (there is no) stress – this is not a singing competition, it’s just

a show that you just go in this costume and have fun.” He said that before entering the show, he had only done karaoke while in China so he enlisted singing coach Mark

De-Lisser to help him with his voice.