Gerwyn Price: Darts player, pantomime villain, and fish and chip shop owner.
‘I live right next door so I am in and out there all the time, especially when I am at home,’ Price tells Daily Mail Sport, speaking ahead of his bow at this year’s World Darts Championship, of his side quest to becoming the best player in the world again.
‘We have always had a decent fish and chip shop in the village and the one we had had closed down. I had a building and I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. When it shut, I thought it was my opportunity to keep one in the village, so I opened up my own.’
Chippy501, based in Price’s home town of Markham in South Wales, was the cause for Price’s dip in form in mid-2024, he has said, but it’s now on a more level playing field with his darts.
‘I don’t eat a lot of it,’ he adds. ‘I try not to, hence why I have lost a little bit of weight.’
Twenty kilograms, to be exact. Price, in his search for a major win for the first time since 2022, has opted to thin down in the hope he’ll get the boost he needs at the oche.
Darts’ pantomime villain Gerwyn Price has insisted he can win the World Darts Championship
Welshman Price owns a fish and chip shop in his home town in Wales as a side hustle
‘I just started to eat a little bit cleaner,’ he says. ‘I eat at the right times, try and keep in a calorie deficit. ‘I have lost almost three stone I think.
‘It makes me feel a lit better in myself. I am slipping on a large shirt rather than an extra large and my waist size has gone down. I feel a lot more comfortable in myself when I’m on stage – the energy is obviously still there – I have got a bit more energy for the longer days I think.’
And so to the darts. Price, the 2021 world champion, is now ranked ninth in the order of merit after what appears to have been a frustrating few years.
Despite a plethora of titles this year, including the Poland Darts Masters on the World Tour and the Baltic Sea Darts Open on the Euro Tour, a big one has again evaded him. The World Championship, though, gives the star, who, on his day, can beat anyone on the circuit, the chance to end this year – and start the next one – on a high.
‘I feel like this year has been a lot better than last year,’ he suggests, optimistic of his chances. ‘I have come into come good form. I haven’t won a major yet, which is something I have been chasing, but there is no reason I can’t win this one.
‘I have had a decent year. I have won six tournaments; one or two of the World Series, none of the big majors… but, if I win the Worlds, everything else will be forgotten. Even the likes of young Luke [Littler] who have won everything this year would swap it for the big one. Everyone wants to win it, and fingers crossed I can.’
We have already seen the impact fans can have on the World Championship. Tickets sell out in mere minutes and the tournament has become so popular that it will move from the West Hall to the Great Hall inside Alexandra Palace from next year. Fans are, therefore, keen to make the most of the day out.
That can go one of two ways. You can get a great atmosphere, or, on the worst occasions, whistlers and booers can put players off.
The former world champion has recently lost three-stone, and insists he achieved the feat by eating cleaner – and that it helps him feel better in himself
Price is expecting fans to be more on his side than usual as he looks to win the world title for a second time
Price is used to the boos. He has had it pretty much everywhere he has gone throughout his career, including Ally Pally – so much so in 2023 that he wore ear defenders to block out the crowd’s jeers.
This year, though, things have seemed to turn for the Welshman. He has started to build a relationship with the fans, with his signature roar often sent back his way in admiration by those watching on.
‘Every tournament I have turned up to this year – England, Europe or anywhere in the world – I seem to get a lot more support than I used to in the past,’ he admits. ‘Alexandra Palace is a different kettle of fish.
‘There are a lot of different supporters that come. Some are there just for a day out on the booze, but I am sure I will get good support there as I have all year.’
Price is speaking to Daily Mail Sport to promote tournament sponsors Paddy Power’s Darts of Destiny campaign, which will see a fan try and score 180 in nine darts to earn £180,000 from Paddy Power. Their nine-dart bonus is also in play again, too, which will see £180,000 split between the player, a lucky fan and charity if the feat is achieved.
The campaigns are in place to raise both awareness and money for Prostate Cancer UK, with more than £100,000 already taken.
‘It’s brilliant,’ Price says of the initiative. ‘The amount of money Paddy Power has raised over the last couple of years has been great.
‘They will will raise more this year and raise more awareness too with a lot more people watching. Hopefully one of us will hit a nine-darter too and share the £180,000 which will be good.’
Price has done that before – just as he has been world champion too. Perhaps, in three weeks’ time, he will have achieved both those feats again.