“I felt that I’d been overlooked. I had a bee in my bonnet" - Joe Cullen opens up on 'pre-emptive' nature of PDC World Darts Championship storm out

Joe Cullen made headlines during the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, and not just for his performances on the dartboard. Following his second round win over the much-hyped Dutch talent Wessel Nijman, Cullen fiercely stormed out of his post-match press conference, citing a perceived lack of respect shown to him by the darting media.

"I've been shown no respect, so I won't show any respect to any of you guys tonight. I'm going to go home," a visibly frustrated Cullen fumed at the media assembled in the Ally Pally press room, before proving to be a man of his word and doing exactly that, storming straight out of the venue and straight home.

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Now, for the first time since that moment, Cullen has spoken out about his thought process regarding the decision to storm out of the press conference so dramatically. First of all, Cullen reveals how he always planned to do such a stunt. “If I’m going to be honest, it was pre-emptive," 'The Rockstar' reveals honestly in conversation with Online Darts. "I knew what I was going to do before I went into the interview."

The reception to Cullen's actions that evening were far from resoundingly positive, with many darts fans critical of the former Masters champion in the aftermath. As proven by Cullen's performance in the match against Nijman though, criticism of the Englishman can often bring out his very best level. “I knew before the game that I wasn’t going to lose," he recalls. "It was a good thing. It was nothing against the bookies, it was nothing against Wessel. I just felt that I’d been overlooked."

"If I’d been overlooked for Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, someone who’s playing amazing, yeah, no problem," Cullen adds, questioning whether Nijman deserved the hype he'd received. "Wessel was lucky to get through his [first round] game against Cameron Carolissen. I thought someone with that little experience on that stage… I think he was like 1/3, 1/4 with the bookies. He was like 7th favourite for the tournament. I just thought it was hideous, for want of a better word. I had a bee in my bonnet and I knew I wasn’t going to lose that game.”

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