Wayne Mardle and John Part may be good friends and co-workers on Sky Sports these days but not so long ago the pair were fierce rivals. One hilarious story Mardle recalls from those times shows that.
"He still goes on about it today. Get over it!" Mardle laughs in conversation with Dan Dawson, recapping an infamous incident at the Las Vegas Desert Classic that riled up the Canadian, three-time World Champion. "I believe this is one, the showmanship and two, the stress and the tension that builds."
"A break is called, John goes off and I stay on stage. I pick up John McDonald's mic that is on its little stand, pick it up. Bearing in mind there are a thousand people in an auditorium that could hold fifty thousand, it was vacuous," Mardle's tale begins. "So we've got a three-minute break and given it 'Come on! Let's have a sing-song!' I started to sing a Tony Christie number."
"Backstage, John was going 'this is an utter disgrace. I can't believe what Mardle is doing on that stage, he is an absolute imbecile. What is he doing?' Anyway, this one guy, sitting at the front said to me 'Wayne concentrate your 1-0 down.' My reply is what finally broke John Part," Mardle continues with a cheeky smile. "I don't remember saying it but apparently, I said 'Don't worry pal I'll beat him 4-1 he's useless. I ended up winning 4-1 didn't I and he still goes on about it!"