Ronnie O'Sullivan stepped up his bid to win a seventh UK Championship on Wednesday - but revealed he almost swapped the snooker cloth for a loin cloth.

The 43-year-old celebrated his birthday by progressing into the quarter-finals of the Betway sponsored tournament with a 6-1 victory over Jack Lisowski.

But O'Sullivan admitted it was only the ambition of adding another UK title to his trophy cabinet that stopped him from entering the jungle.

He turned down the opportunity to go on ITV show ' I'm A Celebrity... Get me Out of Here! ' by instead opting to go for another crown.

O'Sullivan said: "I was invited this year but I decided to put it on the back-burner. I'm sure in time I'll give it a go.

Ronnie O'Sullivan during day seven of the Betway UK Championship at The York Barbican (
Image:
PA)

"Maybe they can move this tournament. I'll come flying in like Tarzan from Australia to York with my thong on."

Rocket Ronnie found his way into the last eight at the tournament in York, where he will now face either Ding Junhui or Martin O'Donnell.

Should he reach the final and claim the title again, he will pocket £170,000 in prize money - although that is less than the fee he would have received for going on the reality show.

He added: "It was never about the money or I would have gone into the jungle.

"I would really like to do it but (not) when you think you can still win tournaments. It was about snooker first."

O'Sullivan is through to the last eight (
Image:
PA)

O'Sullivan would have been the third snooker star to enter the celebrity jungle, with Steve Davis and Jimmy White having previously appeared on the show on separate occasions.

But he turned down the approach to jet off to Australia to focus on snooker.

He made light work of 27-year-old Lisowski, finishing with 100-breaks in the fifth and sixth frames, despite losing the first frame to his counterpart.

O'Sullivan will next be involved in his quarter-final tie on Friday, but admitted in the meantime he'll be keeping up with the show.

"I'll go for a nice meal tonight and watch a bit of the Jungle," he said, "Harry (Redknapp) and John (Barrowman) are nice, but I really like Anne (Hegerty) - she really seems to have gained some confidence."