Dinner Host: Dennis Taylor

Former World Professional Snooker Champion and wearer of upside-down glasses, Dennis Taylor will always be remembered for his thrilling late night victory over Steve Davis, on the final black, with over eighteen millions viewers glued to their screens. In nearly twenty years playing at professional level, Dennis’s charm and sense of humour made him popular around the world.
Throughout his career he was never outside the twelve top ranked players in the world. Amongst many titles, he was Benson & Hedges Masters Champion, Japanese, Australian and Canadian Masters Champion, Irish Professional Champion six times, World Trick Shot Champion and captain of three World Cup winning teams.
After retiring from the professional game, Dennis turned to commentating and remains an integral part of the BBC team. He ventured into the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom, to demonstrate why he is famous for playing snooker, not dancing.

Achievements:
6 times Irish Champion.
Canadian Masters Champion.
Australian Masters Champion.
Tokyo Masters Champion.
Rothmans Grand Prix Champion.
Benson and Hedges Masters Champion
World team championship winner with Ireland 3 times.
Winner of the 1985 World Snooker Championship
Known as The Blackball Final. Beating Steve Davis 18/17 on the final black from 8 nil down. Nearly 19 million stayed up until after midnight. Biggest TV audience ever.
Over his distinguished career, Dennis has been in 47 finals around the world winning 22.