The 43-year-old is aiming to win a second World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield
The pair got engaged in November(Image: instagram/jorochellmusic)
Shaun Murphy is gunning for a second World Snooker Championship title, 21 years after he first tasted success at the Crucible.
Cheering him on in Sheffield is his third fiancée, pianist and vocalist Jo Rochell. His bride-to-be will be watching on, along with Murphy’s mentor Peter Ebdon, as Murphy looks for his second world title – having been a beaten finalist in 2009, 2015 and 2021.
Murphy had last year revealed he is set to marry for a third time after proposing to the internationally-renowned musician.
After lifting the British Open last September following victory over Anthony McGill, Murphy had thanked Rochell on Instagram for “always being my rock, my cheerleader and for keeping me grounded”.
The musician’s influence on Murphy hasn’t gone unnoticed elsewhere on the World Snooker Tour.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, perhaps the sport’s greatest having won seven world titles, previously noted how Rochell, as well as 2002 world champion Ebdon, had made a big difference on the 43-year-old.
“He’s played great all week, deserves his victory, played fantastic,” O’Sullivan said on Eurosport after Murphy’s Masters triumph in 2025. “You look at the breaks, scored very, very heavy.
“I think Peter has obviously done great for Shaun and he’ll fancy his chances at the World Championship now because he’s a big time player, got bottle, got a big game but I also think in your private life it’s important.
“He seems very settled now with this girl, you see her with him at a lot of tournaments getting the balls out for him and it’s nice to see that she’s supporting everything he does.
Shaun Murphy with fiancee Jo Rochell(Image: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images)
“If you’re happy off the table it tends to overspill onto the match table, so things are great for him at the moment.”
On the addition of Ebdon to the Murphy camp, the Rocket said: “As a player you have a weakness and if you can team up with someone that can address that weakness or at least improve it, you notice them improvements when you’re in big match competition then you gain that bit of confidence.
“I think Peter has instilled a little bit of that into him and made him realise how important that is and how it can turn matches.
“That’s what Peter was great at. He wasn’t the most talented player but you would have to dig him off the table.
“Mentally he was in it from the first shot to the last shot. Having that laser focus from start to finish is so important.”
Rochell first met Murphy when the snooker star booked her for a gig.
Murphy has been married twice before.