Bullying, a tiler job and millions: The dazzling career of darts star Michael van Gerwen

Six years after winning his last PDC Darts World Championship title, Dutch legend Michael van Gerwen lost in the 2025 final to prodigy Luke Littler.

The darts icon, who has won over 150 PDC events in his career, is the second-greatest player behind Phil Taylor, but the sport's biggest event has eluded him for over half a decade, to many people's surprise.

Van Gerwen's road to the top did not go smoothly. As a teenager, he was bullied because of his weight and spent six months in an obesity clinic, as reported by Dutch website Business Insider.

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Before he became a big name in darts, the young Van Gerwen worked as a tiler, a job that even took him into former Arsenal star Dennis Bergkamp's bathroom, according to the same source. However, his undeniable talent soon surfaced.

Van Gerwen picked up his first darts at 13 and, after successes in the youth categories, and took his first steps in the British Darts Association (BDO). In 2007, he switched to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), as per Pro Sports Bio.

There, he built a staggering record. In January 2014, Van Gerwen became the youngest ever winner of the PDC World Championship and climbed to the top of the world rankings. He then went on to win the World Championship two more times and prevailed in numerous majors. As a result, he is considered one of the greatest darts players of all time by the specialised media.

Van Gerwen is mentally rock solid and enjoys mindgames during his matches. The Dutchman consistently manages to keep his cool at decisive moments and deliver the final blow to his opponent if given the chance.

A big part of that psychological warfare lies in Van Gerwen's facial expressions. He does not hold back from celebrating and often gets the crowd on his side, especially after throwing a nine darter.

Thanks to his successful darts career, Van Gerwen has built himself a dazzling net worth. According to darts database Darts Orakel, Van Gerwen has already earned around  €14 million in prize money, and that's without adding his sponsorship deals. Ka-Ching!

However, despite his astronomical earnings, Van Gerwen remains a family man, as we can see on his Instagram account, where he regularly posts a picture with his wife and two children.

Already a darts legend, Van Gerwen is keen to write another successful chapter in his career and win a fourth world title in his career. Will he succeed?

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