"They publish first and then ask: is it true?" - Michael van Gerwen open on downsides of fame and notoriety

For Michael van Gerwen, 2025 was one of the toughest years of his life. One year turned the three-time world champion’s life completely upside down. After seventeen years with his now ex-wife Daphne, with whom he has daughter Zoë (8) and son Mike (5), they decided to go their separate ways. On top of that, his seriously ill father deteriorated rapidly. “It’s still not going well,” he told the AD.

“A year and a half ago his nose was amputated because it was full of cancer. From one ear to the other, all his lymph nodes have now been removed. It should improve, but his quality of life isn’t good. I hate to see that.”

And all this came after Van Gerwen said at the end of 2024 that he hoped 2025 would look a lot brighter. With multiple jaw surgeries behind him, 2024 was no picnic for the Brabant native either. Looking back now after this year, those operations weren’t so bad. “This year also felt like my jaw was being broken.”

As he leaves the hotel with the interviewer, “MVG” is recognized. “That’s that darts player! Michael van Gerwen!” someone shouts. “This happens a lot,” Van Gerwen grins. “Wherever I walk. In England, in the Netherlands. It doesn’t really bother me, to be honest. You have to accept that you’re famous. I’m not going to wear a cap and sunglasses.”

Although that fame is nice, it also has its downsides. That became clear again this past year when footage surfaced of a “scuffle” involving the Dutchman in a kebab shop. “I only asked them to take the tomato off my sandwich,” he says with a laugh. “He made a fool of me. But that man attacked me, not the other way around. It wasn’t smart, but that kind of thing happens 100 times in a weekend in the Netherlands.”

The Dutchman doesn’t find it strange that his private life has been under the microscope since the divorce. Although it barely bothers him, it does make it harder to pick up his “normal life” again. “Gossip channels are very busy with it,” he mutters, now that he’s suddenly interesting to other tabloids besides in darts. “Well, I’m glad they’re still talking about me.”

He recently received an invitation to sit at the table on Jinek. RTL Boulevard also showed up at his door in Vlijmen, and he regularly gets messages from Shownieuws. “Them standing at your door while you’re picking the kids up from school is a step too far, of course. But otherwise, if people have a question, I just answer it, and if they publish something that’s true, I don’t mind that either. But often they publish first and then ask: is it true? I find that sad. You have to tell it right.”

He would also have joined Jinek without any problem. “But they still had to see if nothing newsworthy would interfere. Then I canceled. If I say I’m coming, then I come and you can ask me anything, but I’m not a third wheel.” He didn’t necessarily feel the need to share his story with everyone either. “I’m not going to sling mud. Of course some things didn’t go neatly, but Daphne is the mother of my children and especially for your children you want peace. We’re on perfectly fine terms.”

In the end, that’s what it’s all about for Van Gerwen: being there for his children Zoë and Mike and being a good father again. “Normally I had Daphne and I could just practice whenever I wanted. If I come home now, it’s a bit of juggling with the kids. Making sandwiches, doing laundry, cooking. It’s a different rhythm and you have to learn to deal with it.”

He will always put his children first, but the Dutchman does sometimes wonder whether he’s still allowed to enjoy life himself. Last summer he was spotted at Tomorrowland and in Ibiza, which drew heavy criticism. “People worry more about me than I do. That tires me sometimes. If you have a family, you do fun things with your family. What am I supposed to do now? Sit alone on the couch?”

“If I do something wrong or stray too far off the path, let me go. I’ll be back, for sure. I don’t need anyone to tell me it’s not smart to argue in a kebab shop. Believe me: I really do get that myself,” the Dutchman says.

He gets a lot of questions about his dating life in particular. “Have you met someone new? Are you dating already? Or people who say: why are you on a dating app? I’m not dating anyone, but what’s wrong with a dating app? There are millions of people on dating apps.”

He doesn’t think this will stop any time soon. When he recently posted a photo with a good friend on Instagram, his phone exploded right away. “I’m learning new things every day. You enter a single life where you think: how does this actually work? I’m not made to stay alone my whole life, and people do wish me that happiness, but it comes when it comes. You just have to take your time.”

Still, there have been plenty of positives lately. The Dutchman has become much fitter physically. “Physically I feel good. I try to play padel twice a week and I’m 20 kilos lighter. My secret? Eat less, haha. I always went for seconds, but once is enough too. I just cook for the kids and if I don’t have the kids, I go out to eat a bit more, but even then I try to choose something decent.”

He returns to Alexandra Palace with renewed energy for his nineteenth World Darts Championship. And it won’t be the last for a while. “I’ll keep doing that for now, because I still enjoy it immensely. I have a contract until 2035. After that I’ll have a look. I’m not obligated to anything. If I want to stop earlier, I will. I decide what I do, but as long as I enjoy it, I’ll keep going.”