In the Wembley Masters, White played Mark King in the wild card round, but lost the match 2–6. Prior to the World Championship, he won only two of his six qualifying matches: he defeated Bjorn Haneveer 5–0 at the Shanghai Masters and Jordan Brown 5–1 at the Welsh Open. Due to this disappointment, and skipping the 2009 UK Championship for "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me out of Here!", he was at risk of losing his Main Tour spot for the following season. However, he secured his place on the Main Tour for another season with a 10–8 victory over Mark Boyle at the World Championship Qualifiers. He then lost 3–10 against Ken Doherty in the next round.