“That hasn't always been easy for me. My life has changed completely” – Michael van Gerwen opens up about his divorce and difficult years

Michael van Gerwen wants to reshape his life. The three-time world champion has endured a difficult period, during which his marriage ended, his father became seriously ill and his results on the oche declined.

In an in-depth interview with Sportnieuws.nl, the 37-year-old from Brabant says he spent years barely reflecting on his success. Now, he is trying to get back on track both personally and professionally.

Van Gerwen has been one of the best-known faces in darts for more than a decade. He has won three world titles and around 160 PDC tournaments.

Yet he does not look back on that period with unqualified joy. The Dutchman admits that for a long time, he focused mainly on the next tournament without truly enjoying his achievements.

A conversation with his close friend Vincent van der Voort got Van Gerwen thinking a few weeks ago. Van der Voort asked when he had last been truly happy. The question proved harder to answer than he expected.

“I didn’t have an answer to that; I really didn’t know. Purely because I hadn’t felt good for a long time. That did shock me. When you’re in a rut, you start questioning things. People probably think it’s strange when I say that. He has a lot of money, success, and who knows what else, right? But that’s not what it’s about."

Van Gerwen now realises he should have looked at his career differently. At a certain point, his major successes began to feel routine.

“I didn’t enjoy the success enough. To me, that was the most normal thing in the world. I won about 160 PDC tournaments. It felt more like assembly line work. It was more like, hop, the prize is in the bag and on to the next tournament.”

Alongside his struggles in darts, Van Gerwen also faced challenges in his personal life. In May 2025, it emerged that he and his wife Daphne had split up, ending a 17-year relationship.

“That a relationship ends in such a way is painful,” Van Gerwen said. “By now, I can say that it is better this way, also for me as a person. Of course, the divorce has had a huge impact on me. You suddenly have to adjust on many levels. That hasn't always been easy for me. My life has changed completely.”

The Dutchman says the differences between him and his former partner grew over the years. “I think we both always knew that we would never grow old together. I dare say that.”

Van Gerwen explains that their lives gradually went in different directions. Daphne used to travel with him to darts tournaments regularly, but later stayed home with the children more often. “We started leading increasingly separate lives. In the past, Daphne often went along to tournaments, but later, of course, she mostly stayed at home with the children. We grew apart.”

Despite the divorce, Van Gerwen stresses that maintaining a good relationship with his former partner matters to him. The wellbeing of their children, Zoë and Mike, comes first. “She remains the mother of my children,” Van Gerwen continued. “Of course, not everything runs smoothly, but we have an excellent relationship. You will never hear me say negative things about her. Everything I say, our children can read online for the rest of their lives. That doesn’t do a child any good. The interests of Zoë and Mike always come first.”

The divorce was not the only setback Van Gerwen faced. His father was diagnosed with cancer in 2025, but the player says there have since been positive developments. "Fortunately, he is doing better now. Let's hope it stays that way."

These events also changed how Van Gerwen spent his free time. Balancing fatherhood, his darts career and personal problems often led him to seek distractions.

“You are also often home alone. You start doing other things. Shifting priorities. When you have a lot of worries on your mind, you want to do something fun every now and then. A nice evening out, a fun party with friends; then I don't think about the hassle. But that hasn't helped me over the past year and a half.”

Although his personal life has changed dramatically over the past year and a half, Van Gerwen does not want to attribute his decline in form solely to those events.

The three-time world champion says his results began to slide around 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought much of the darts world to a standstill.

“Actually, that period was a turning point in my career. Since then, things have gone downhill. There was a long time back then when I didn't give a damn about it. If you don't live enough for the sport, you end up in a negative spiral. I am now paying the price for that.”

His last world title came in 2019. Since then, Van Gerwen has been unable to win the biggest prize in darts. The Dutchman admits he will have to invest time and energy in himself again to get close to his former level. That means more than hours at the dartboard; it also means focusing on his life away from the sport.

One change Van Gerwen has already made concerns his fitness. The Dutchman has lost dozens of kilos in recent months and says he feels much better.

“I never want to go back to my old weight. I struggled with that my whole life. I don't want that anymore. I feel much fitter and a better person.”

His weight loss is part of a broader change Van Gerwen wants to make. He is trying to pay more attention to his own well-being, something he says he neglected for a long time.

"Everything is increasingly falling into place. I want to be able to say again soon: I am truly a happy person. To achieve that, I need to invest much more time in myself, both athletically and personally.”

Despite disappointing results in recent years, Van Gerwen has no intention of lowering his ambitions. The former world number one still wants to add a fourth world title to his collection. “Of course, I want to become world champion at least one more time. But when you look at what I have already achieved, I could only have dreamed of that."

His three world titles and many other tournament victories give him plenty to be proud of, but Van Gerwen refuses to settle for where he is now. “But I don’t want to settle for that. If I start enjoying life again and become the best version of myself, I can still achieve many great things. I am absolutely convinced of that.”

Van Gerwen knows that a return to the very top will not happen overnight. He will need patience, both with his performances and with the changes in his personal life. “I am just being put to the test terribly right now. How well can I handle patience? We shall see. The most important thing is that I can say later that I felt happy again for a long time."

Retirement is not on Van Gerwen’s mind. The Dutchman is convinced he still has what it takes to win major tournaments. “They aren't rid of me anytime soon, I know that for sure. I am too good not to win anything anymore.”