Visiting Luca Brecel: “I’m not a snooker freak, but you have to look far to find a better life”

For the Radio 2 program ‘If the walls could talk’, Luca Brecel gave a rare insight into his house and his life. “It’s a myth that I’m a car freak. If I could, I’d even live without a car.”

In ‘If the walls could talk’, Anja Daems visits a famous Flemish person for Radio 2 every week. This week, Luca Brecel showed her around his house in Maasmechelen, which he bought from his parents a few years ago.

“I have been home a lot this season, because I often lost out quickly at the tournaments,” he laughs. “But when I have a good season, I am home very little.”

Brecel is not bothered by that bad period. “I know I’ll always come back. Usually after a bad period comes my best period. That’s always been the case. I need those ups and downs.”

The 2023 world champion emphasizes several times in the conversation that snooker is not everything in his life. “I’m actually not that snooker-minded. I enjoy playing, but I’m certainly not a freak.”

An example: Anja Daems notes that his World Cup trophy is nowhere to be found. “I recently unpacked it for the first time, after a year and a half. That says a lot about me. I have collected at least 300 cups in my life, but I have never kept them. Those memories are in my head.”

“It is mainly the peripheral issues in snooker that do not interest me. Everything technical, for example. How heavy is a cue? How thick is the tip? I never have an answer when they ask me that.”

“The same goes for the cloth on the snooker table. All the other players are very concerned about it. I am not.”

When Anja Daems enters Brecel’s garage, she notices that there are no expensive cars shining. He immediately clears up the misunderstanding.

“It is a myth that I am a car freak. I actually only have one car. If I could, I would even live without a car. But unfortunately that is not possible.”

Brecel does admit that he has a hole in his hand. “Many people think that my money mainly goes to cars, but that’s not so bad. If you buy an expensive car, you can also resell it for an expensive price.”

Brecel also bought an expensive bicycle about six months ago. “If I had to save something from a fire, it would be my bike rather than my cue.”

The bike came because Brecel planned to complete an Ironman. “I started working with Frederik Van Lierde. In terms of fitness, I really started from scratch. My weight was also at my heaviest ever.”

Since I decided to train for an Ironman, I have already lost about 14 kilograms.

Luca Brecel

Brecel has now lost 13 to 14 kilograms. “I think it’s a chic story to start with, although it’s still a long way off. For example, I can swim, but I can’t crawl.”

“I’ve always liked sports. You just have to put in the time and you can achieve something. Of course I’m not going to win an Ironman, but finishing is certainly feasible. Although I’ll give myself another 3 to 4 years before I do one .”

His triathlon story also helps Brecel in snooker. “I notice that I now train faster than before. I have a goal in my head, I always need that.”

“It also helps during long races if you are physically fit. I have been very fit, but I have also not been fit at all. So I know exactly what is best. Although I am still not where I want to be in terms of weight.”

It is rare that Luca Brecel gives an insight into his world. He would prefer not to even do interviews.

“I don’t like to be in the spotlight. I even went for a walk once, although that was a long time ago. That was during a snooker show with many private individuals in a large disco.”

“I really didn’t feel like giving an interview in that room. I locked myself in the toilet. I would still like to do that sometimes.”

Brecel really relaxes not only at his home in Maasmechelen, but also in Mallorca. “I have lost my heart to Mallorca. I have been on holiday everywhere, but in Mallorca you have everything.”

“In some cities it can sometimes be messy, but there it is very clean everywhere. It calms me down when everything is tidy.”

“I would like to buy a house there. Next time I go there, I will look into renting something there where I can also put a snooker table. If I fly from there to tournaments, at least I can do some training first.” .”

“If I were to stop playing snooker, I would leave Belgium anyway. To Mallorca, where you find fresh oranges every day.”

I once locked myself in the toilet because I didn’t want to give an interview. Sometimes I still wish I could do that.

Although he has a love-hate relationship with snooker and everything surrounding it, Brecel is devoted to the life of a snooker player.

“You have to look far to find a better life. We hardly have any obligations and don’t even necessarily have to train. I know a few professional football players and their schedule is really crazy if you compare that with ours. I can manage my days myself to fill in.”

“I am very grateful that I can do this. Unlike many other players, because there are a lot of complainers on the circuit. They complain about everything. I am very easy-going myself.”

That is the common thread through Brecel’s life: chill, cool. “I can put things into perspective very well. After a match you will not be able to see whether I won or lost. I am very well balanced, quite stable in my head.”

“Of course I always want to win, but I also see the benefits when I lose. Then I already think about the drive home. We talk about everything in the car, but never about snooker.”