"I do things that I know will really p**s my wife off" - James Wade talks about his bipolar struggles

In the long and storied career of James Wade, the big, notable omission from his extensive trophy haul is the PDC World Darts Championship. Widely regarded as the best player never to make a world final, could 2025 finally be the edition that things fall into place for 'The Machine'?

“I am. I am, yeah. I want to,” Wade answers determinedly when asked by Express Sport if he is ready to end that World Darts Championship drought and finally get his hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy. “The problem is with the World Championship, it’s a long time and it’s quite a few appearances for me to have a straight head. The last two TV tournaments I’ve been in I’ve been distracted.”

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Extra issues Wade has to deal with as opposed to his rivals, are ADHD and bipolar. “I can be on stage and not interested,” he explains. “I can be before the game and not interested, but on the very rare occasion, I can be super interested and properly in it. Sometimes I look for that feeling and when it’s not there, I just think ‘Oh well sod it’."

And when he's in that head space, it can be very difficult for the Englishman to get himself into a position to compete with the best in the world. “It could be for £10million, and I would love £10million more than anyone, well a lot of people. But if my mind isn’t there, there’s nothing I can do about it," he continues. “I’d love to say I can switch my mind on and off, but I can’t. My whole life is like that. I do things that I know will really p**s my wife off and will really annoy her. I know it will, but I can’t stop myself and it is what it is.”

Over the course of his career, Wade has been open and honest about his battles with mental health. This hasn't always made life easy for him though. “I remember the first time I’d gone into the Priory [mental health care facility] and come out, I walked straight out of there and into the UK Open. I can honestly promise you I walked into the practice room with about 100 players, the room went quiet and there were only two people who said hello to me," he recalls. “Everyone else couldn’t look at me. It was like I had some sort of disease. That’s the strangest thing, I would say darts in general is still quite an old game and some of the people around it aren’t the most open-thinking.”

For Wade's dreams of a first world title to come to fruition, he must first triumph on Monday against either Jermaine Wattimena or Stefan Bellmont, when he takes to the Ally Pally stage.

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