Darts star referred to as out for ‘drunk’ on-stage interview at Ally Pally – earlier than he jokes with followers that he’d drunk a pint of GRAVY mid-match
Ricky Evans produced a night to remember for Alexandra Palace’s raucous crowd, complete with an unfortunate trouser split and an unexpected rant about gravy.
The world number 40 eased past Hong Kong‘s Man Lok Leung with a 3-0 victory to book his place in the second round on Friday night.
Kettering’s Evans, whose nickname is ‘Rapid’ because of how fast he throws his darts, wore his latest festive attire and walked out to Shakin’ Stevens’ classic ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’, firing up the Ally Pally crowd on the second night of the tournament.
Evans, now synonymous with the festive season and wearing a shirt emblazoned with his own face dressed as Santa, was asked after the win by presenter Holly James: ‘I have heard that you don’t really like Christmas. Tell us it’s not true?’
To which the darts star replied: ‘Christmas is rubbish. It is. Right, hands up if you like gravy. Hands up if you like me and gravy. Hands up if you think gravy is the devil.’
Evans later had a laugh with fans joking online that he had appeared drunk during the interview, posting: ‘I had a pint of gravy mid-game…. it was strong x’.
Ricky Evans is synonymous with the festive season and wore a shirt emblazoned with his own face dressed as Santa – and walked out to Shakin’ Stevens’ classic ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’
It seems gravy was the talk of the night, as Evans was quizzed about it in his post-match presser. Evans, whose sister Elisha tragically passed away in March, explained:
‘Everyone loves it, don’t they? My sister, when she was alive, her and mum, they could bathe in it.
‘I hate it. Apparently, as a boy, I loved it. That and baked beans, God (motions being sick). I hate it. Give me some cranberry sauce; ketchup will do.
‘I just hate it. There’s something about the old KFC… even that, KFC, everyone raves about it. Just my opinion!’
Things had taken a slightly strange turn in the moments after the match, when Evans’ custom-made trousers split on stage. After pinning the winning dart, Evans stepped towards the board to take his arrows out, but one dropped to the floor, only for the seam to give way.
Evans appeared to ask the official whether he had just split his trousers and looked red-faced when he turned towards the cameras, but took the mishap in his stride in his interview
Evans appeared to ask official Huw Ware whether he had just split his trousers, with both looking in surprise towards the cameras.
Taking the mishap in his stride, Evans said afterwards: ‘I will say, they didn’t fit last year and they did this year. Maybe November has hit me a bit hard!
‘I’ve got trousers planned for other rounds so it doesn’t bother me. I’ve just shown it off to the world, but if you’re a fan of darts, you’ve probably seen my bum before.’
Evans will face either James Wade or Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto in the next round.
