"There was no bigger cheater than him... Lewis did nothing but talk behind you and stomp" - Michael van Gerwen's brutal assessment of Adrian Lewis

Adrian Lewis was one of the leading names in the world of darts for many years. 'Jackpot' became world champion in 2011 and 2012. Ahead of his return to darts in 2025, Lewis was active in an exhibition tournament last week, where he made a statement by throwing a nine-darter. Or did he?

Michael van Gerwen was a guest on the podcast 'Darts Draait Door' this week and heard that Lewis cheated at an exhibition tournament by not throwing a real nine-darter. In Lewis' case, a 140 score was "transformed" into a 180 for fun and for the audience. It made Van Gerwen burst into laughter. "Honestly: Lewis has cheated all his life," 'Mighty Mike' said. "There was no bigger cheater than him. You should ask Phil Taylor or Raymond van Barneveld the same thing. Lewis did nothing but talk behind you and stomp. He pulled out all the stops to take you out of your game."

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Vincent van der Voort, who like Lewis, loses his Tour Card and drops off the PDC Tour at the end of 2025, a good friend of Van Gerwen, was also a guest on the podcast, and he too remembers Lewis' tricks very well. "Then he would walk past you and make a move. Or he cheered separately or extra exuberantly," remembers the Dutchman. "He always did that."

Adrian Lewis became world champion in 2011 and 2012

"Lewis also really had those flat feet, real 'elephant legs' that he took advantage of," Van Gerwen adds. "And then afterwards playing the innocence of the dead huh.... I said it to him regularly too."

Van Gerwen also remembers Lewis could sweat profusely, something that became even more apparent after their match when he received a wet kiss from his English opponent. "Or that dirty sweaty head of his against you...I don't like that dirty stuff anyway," he concludes.

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