Van Barneveld did not expect to get married again: "Our love is still growing every day"

Raymond van Barneveld announced his engagement to his girlfriend Julia Evans on Tuesday. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, he asked her to marry him last weekend. This was answered with a resounding 'yes'.

This came as a total surprise for Julia, Van Barneveld tells Privé.

"She said wholeheartedly yes. Of course I had done some research beforehand, and I would have preferred to ask my question on the famous Trocadéro square. But because of the many thousands of people walking there, it looked a bit messy. So I decided to do it a bit further away. Julia did not see it coming at all and was completely overwhelmed by the proposal and the beautiful engagement ring. She thought it was really beautiful. Of course, we have talked about getting married in the past, but she never saw this coming.

The five-time world champion had previously been married to Silvia Walraven for almost 25 years. That marriage came to an end in 2019. Afterwards, Barney is said to have said that he was never going to marry again.

"I did indeed say that. I have been married before, and divorced again, and such events only happen once in a lifetime. So going down the altar again was out of the question for me for a long time, although I did keep the door open for a second marriage. If it was really a dream of Julia's, I would still consider it.

In the end, Van Barneveld was in favour of a wedding day after all. "Her enthusiasm was contagious, to the point that I also wanted to go all the way. Our love is still growing every day, because we are true soul mates. We both love playing darts, eating well and travelling. City trips - like last weekend to Paris, or going on a cruise - we love. We can hardly do without each other. When I have to go to England for a few days, we miss each other terribly.

Meanwhile, Van Barneveld and his girlfriend Julia are already making tentative plans for their wedding. "We are thinking of the middle of 2023, so that we know for sure that we will no longer be bound by all kinds of restrictions due to corona. We are going for a big party abroad, for example in Spain or Italy."