Cullen reflects on painful year off the oche: "I just didn’t give a s**t about darts"

Joe Cullen started the year as one of the best players on tour with many expecting him to win a maiden major and continue his form.

But off the oche, it was a painful year for 'The Rockstar' who tried his best to manage both aspects as his mum sadly lost her battle with cancer and for Cullen, darts was suddenly on the backburner.

"It’s been a really difficult year for me away from the darts," he told Metro.co.uk.

"I think start of the year I was probably top five in the world on form, I don’t think anyone could disagree with that.

"I was getting to quarters, semis, finals and winning regularly. Towards the end of June my mum started to be unwell and, to put it bluntly, I just didn’t give a s**t about darts then.

"I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my mum, so I wasn’t practicing, darts was irrelevant.

"Life goes on and you’ve got to try and dig in but June onwards if you look at the results you can pinpoint exactly where my mum’s illness started. My mum passed at the start of October so I’m just trying to look ahead now and get my mind back on darts.

"It’s still s**t, to be honest with you. I try and keep as busy as I can. I try and do bits in the house, I play snooker a lot, it’s when you start doing nothing that it’s hardest, so I try and keep as busy as I can."