Ronnie O’Sullivan reckons behind closed doors snooker could lead to some shock results and has parallels with a certain TV show - I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

The five-time world champion recently competed in the Championship League in Milton Keynes, reaching the group winners’ stage before a 3-0 defeat to Stuart Bingham dashed his hopes of progression.

That tournament was won by world No.37 Luca Brecel under the Marshall Arena lights, who triumphed in the final group against Ryan Day, Ben Woollaston and Bingham to secure a surprise triumph in the first competition since snooker returned.

O’Sullivan says the absence of fans may spring a few surprises and some players will only want to do one thing - get out of there!

“There may be a lot of surprise results and a lot of players will see it as a great opportunity,” the 44-year-old said.

“Maybe the top players won’t be so comfortable at these events, taking away [fans], and a lot of it will be how players adapt to that.

“Some will probably thrive in it and go ‘you know what, I don’t mind it’ and some will go ‘get me out of here’, like they do in the jungle and say ‘I’ve had enough, I want to go home!’

“There’s going to be a bit of that going on, so no one knows until they go through it, I suppose.

“All these little things, some players will thrive in it and some players won’t - if it’s something you’re not really comfortable with then you have to make that decision: ‘do I play or don’t I play?’

“Unless you experience it, you just don’t know.”

The sporting world continues to embark on an unprecedented era with an absence of fans, with teams around the globe adapting in different ways since the resumption after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Snooker was one of the first sports to return with Milton Keynes’ Championship League, followed by the Tour Championship at the same venue that was won by world No.9 Stephen Maguire.

Maguire is a six-time ranking event winner himself but O’Sullivan - who is gearing up for a tilt at a sixth world title at the Crucible this month - reckons the behind closed doors format could benefit the players who often fall foul of pressured environments.

“I think it’s going to favour the players that don’t relish that tense atmosphere,” he added.

“A lot of big players rise to the occasion and rise to a sense of danger, and I think with no crowd that ‘oh, ah’ and that tenseness maybe goes a bit.

“But I really haven’t got a clue and really don’t know [if behind closed doors snooker will lead to more unpredictable results] - it’s a hard one.”

Live snooker returns to Eurosport and the Eurosport app. Watch the World Championship and qualifying from 21st July – 16th August.