A World Championship legend left his former partner of 25 years after claims he abandoned her for a younger model before he wed new wife 18 years his junior
Raymond van Barneveld returns to the world stage tonight (Wednesday) at the World Darts Championship against Stefan Bellmont in the first-round.
The five-time world champion won his only PDC crown in 2007 after winning four world titles in the BDO. While his spark might not shine as bright these days, ‘Barney’ is a huge draw at Ally Pally and cheering him on at this year’s prestigious event is his wife Julia Evans.
At 57, Van Barneveld is 18 years senior to his 39-year-old partner. The arrows icon was formerly wed to Silvia van Barneveld, though their union collapsed in January 2019, leading to divorce proceedings.
The breakdown occurred after Silvia testified in court regarding a break-in at their Dutch family residence. Claims suggested Van Barneveld had abandoned Silvia for Julia, with the pair first crossing paths in Southampton during one of the Dutchman’s competitive appearances there.
British-born Julia previously held a position with TfL but now works exclusively as her husband’s assistant manager. According to her LinkedIn profile, she coordinates appointments and oversees his diary commitments.
The couple exchanged vows in Cyprus during 2023, marking five years together. Van Barneveld proposed in Paris during 2022, sharing the moment on Instagram with the words: “She said YES! I asked Julia to marry me in Paris this weekend and she said yes. I’m over the moon I love you so much.”
Chatting about his partner Julia in 2022, Barney revealed: “I was struggling for many years and now with Julia, we’re going to marry next year. She’s the love of my life and I’m happy.”
Back in 2022, Van Barneveld candidly discussed his divorce with The Guardian, shedding light on how it impacted his performance at the Worlds in 2019, which saw him bow out early. “There was too much going on in my head,” he confessed.
“I was breaking up with my ex-wife and I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t playing well and I was a nightmare for the people around me.”
The darts icon, who initially hung up his arrows in 2019, even conceded that financial pressures from the divorce played a part in his decision to come out of retirement.
“A lot of people think I’m totally loaded, but for the big money I peaked too early,” he shared with Dutch publication AD. “That came later.
“Also, don’t forget that we pay a fair bit of tax on the money we make. And then with me, divorce came on top of that. They say that costs you fifty percent of what you have. Well, with me it was as much as sixty percent. At least.”