'Of course I love darts, but I love my kids more'

The big interview Michael van Gerwen The former world No 1 shares how a traumatic year has shaped him as a darts player and as a father, and insists he can recapture his glory days

- Donald McRae

'I can be a miserable bastard sometimes," Michael van Gerwen says with a grin and a shrug as he tries to explain his new burst of optimism after a horribly testing year. "But I can also be quite positive. If you asked me this question a month ago, and we did this interview then, you would find me a bit different to today. But I feel good now even if, 100%, this has been a very tough year for me both on and off the oche." Rather than being miserable, the 36-year-old is amiable companywhich seems remarkable as in 2025 he has been through a divorce after 17 years with his wife, Daphne, witnessed the devastating effect of cancer on his father, endured intense scrutiny in the Dutch media, and struggled to regain his once imperious form with the arrows.

Van Gerwen holds the record for the longest run as world No 1, having retained the top spot for seven years from 1 January 2014 to 3 January 2021. Those 2,559 days of supremacy offer a stark contrast to his far more inconsistent play over the past five years.

The world championship begins tomorrow and, while he enters the tournament as the third seed, Van Gerwen's painful year has diminished his game. He nods emphatically when I ask if his recent personal trauma has changed him. “A lot,” he says before pausing. “Maybe it’s better to say it has not changed me as a person - but it has changed my way of thinking.

“It has made me understand what’s most important in life. It has to be family. Of course I love darts but I love my kids much more. Before, when I didn’t have kids, it was easier. Darts was always my number one. Then, when I had kids, darts was not my number one any more. You have to try to balance things a little better.”