Stephen Hendry is a snooker legend and has carved out a fine career himself in the media world with Lauren Thundow by his side
Stephen Hendry and his ex-wife Mandy(Image: Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images)
The Masters final is finally here for snooker fans, with the iconic competition coming to a dramatic close on Sunday. It kicked off on January 11 and has seen the sport’s very best players go toe-to-toe for the £350,000 pay packet.
Six-time winner Stephen Hendry knows plenty about what it takes to secure glory at the event, winning five consecutive titles from 1989 to 1993, with another in 1996. As much as Hendry knows about the drama of elite level sport, the snooker legend has experienced a fair amount of drama off it, too.
As is the case with any sporting celebrity, their personal lives come under a microscope with fans keen to know all the details about their beloved stars. One highly-documented element of his personal life is his divorce to Mandy over 10 years ago, with whom he had been married for almost two decades. Hendry, 57, ended up falling for Lauren, a children’s performer and actress, who is 20 years younger than the Scotsman.
Girlfriend Lauren Thundow with Stephen Hendry(Image: Photo by Jeff Spicer/WireImage)
Speaking about this in his autobiography Me and the Table which was released in 2018, Hendry revealed the massive divorce bill he faced: “The three years between my leaving and the divorce itself are the most stressful of my life. The legal bill from the divorce comes to a hefty six-figure sum. Mandy will continue to live in the house in Scotland with the boys.”
Expanding on the moment his eye began to wander, Hendry also said: “People talk about mid-life crisis. But I met someone else and it knocked me for six. Driving back from a shopping trip, my wife Mandy asks me what’s wrong. She assumes it’s money-related. I tell her it isn’t. Then she tells me to stop the car, saying that we’re not going an inch further until I tell her what’s going on.
“So I do. I tell her that I have feelings for someone else. She is shocked and devastated. It’s the last thing she expected me to say. She knows me well enough to know that other women have never been my thing. We drive home in a fog of bewilderment, but we don’t tell the children. There are tears and conversations late into the evening. Mandy informs me she wants me to move out until we’ve sorted things.
“I stay with friends and family while Mandy and I attempt to patch up our marriage. We agree to give it another go. I’m riddled with guilt about the whole thing, but I’m also in love with someone else.”
He continued: “I first met Lauren when she was selling merchandise after a Legends snooker exhibition. She’s attractive and we smile at each other, but I think nothing of it. Gradually, we start to say, “hi” and share a bit of small talk.
Hendry left Mandy for Thundow (pictured)(Image: Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
“I would never be one to go striding over to any woman who caught my eye – after all, I’m the person who got to know my wife’s parents before I plucked up the courage to talk to her. As time goes on, we chat more often. It’s becoming clear we have a connection. The Legends events travel to each venue with the same support staff. Over the next few months Lauren and I become friendly.
“After a while we realise we’re falling in love. That’s very unsettling. I am married to the woman I’ve been with for almost 30 years. We have two amazing boys and a great lifestyle.”
Hendry went on to explain that he had no wishes to hurt wife Mandy but he couldn’t help the way he was feeling. A holiday to Portugal in 2013 was planned with the goal of rebuilding the family dynamic but the topic of their marriage was never far away. Despite a plethora of conversations the couple decided that parting ways was for the best and now it was time to tell his boys, Blaine and Carter.
“This is the hardest thing I have ever done and will probably ever have to do,” revealed Hendry. “I try to be as gentle as possible, telling them I have feelings for someone else. But however you try to explain things to children, there is going to be upset and hurt. Carter is upset; Blaine becomes very quiet, just like I did when I found out about my parents splitting up. It’s horrible, and I feel like the worst person in the world.”
Hendry and Thundow have now been together for almost 12 years and Hendry continues to work in the world of snooker, despite not playing at the highest level anymore. His YouTube channel ‘Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips’ has been hugely successful with almost half a million subscribers. Hendry also lends a hand with punditry work.
