“When I see photos from last year now, I think: how did I let it get so far?” – Darts reporter Arjan van der Giessen 47 kilos lighter after stomach reduction surgery

Arjan van der Giessen has been one of the familiar faces in Dutch darts journalism for years. Now that the World Darts Championship has started again, he can be seen daily with Viaplay on site in London. Many have noticed, however, that the now 60-year-old has undergone quite a transformation.

“I’ve lost 47 kilos and I’m over the moon. It couldn’t go on like this,” Van der Giessen told AD, proudly showing his full cooler with yogurt, bars, and protein drinks. “We hauled it up the hill here last week. Really heavy,” he said with a laugh.

The reporter is covering his 28th World Darts Championship, and recently decided it was time to work on his health. “Between the fall of 2023 and the summer of 2024 I had three bouts of pneumonia, with the last one a double. My wife, kids, and people around me would say sometimes: Ar, you really need to do something about your weight. I weighed nearly 160 kilos. But I didn’t see it myself. Until those pneumonias. Then I thought: I have to do something, and go all in.”

That drastic change ultimately turned out to be a gastric reduction, though he also considered other measures beforehand. “Ozempic was hot, but in the Netherlands it was only for diabetes patients. There was another pill that would take away your hunger. Or I could get a shot for 240 euros a month. I didn’t fancy that. Something structural had to change, something life-changing.”

He was therefore referred in July 2025 to an obesity clinic in Eindhoven, where he began the process for his gastric reduction. He had consultations with psychologists, dietitians, nurses, and surgeons. “You’re really trained to change your eating and drinking habits,” he explains.

Alcohol, however, was not the issue for Van der Giessen, as he hadn’t drunk for over forty years. “Food, that was the problem. If I was happy, I ate; if I was sad, I ate; and for every feeling in between, I ate too. Was I full? Whatever, just keep eating. It was painful at times, but in the moment I never found it strange.”

When it became clear last October that the operation would go ahead, the reporter was over the moon. “They said: do it right away in December? So I replied: well, I don’t think so. That’s the World Darts Championship. Oh, January then? That’s The Masters. February? UK Open. Then I got the comment: do you want this or not? And I did want it, but I’m self-employed so I had to consider my wallet too.”

But on March 17, coincidentally his wife’s birthday, the moment finally came in the morning. “I went into the hospital with a smile. After the operation I was in a lot of pain and had to stay longer, but after that it went very well very quickly. The kilos flew off. I’ve now lost 47 kilos, I no longer have morbid obesity, and my stamina is improving.”

Anyone who has followed darts for years knows Van der Giessen’s nickname: ‘The Feather’. He once got the nickname from a producer at Sky, and it still fits now. He literally feels as light as a feather. “I move a lot. Here during the Worlds, I take a long walk between the afternoon and evening sessions. On average 10,000 to 12,000 steps a day. Music on, preferably dance music, and go. Wonderful.”

Now that the gastric reduction is behind him, he realizes he should have done it much earlier. “When I see photos from last year now, I really think: Jesus, man. How did I let it get that far? And why didn’t I see it the way others did? I’m sitting here now in a shirt with a vest and a sweater. If I sat like that before, I’d break out in a sweat. I also always had a little towel with me. But I just don’t sweat anymore.”

Until the final on Saturday, January 3, Van der Giessen can still be seen in front of the Viaplay camera at Ally Pally, where the compliments will likely keep flying his way. “I appreciate that, but I didn’t do it for that. It’s when I stand in front of the mirror and think: phew, that looks different. That’s what I did it for. The only thing that bothers me is my tailbone. My ‘cushions’ are gone,” he says with a laugh. “Other than that, it’s fantastic. I feel over the moon.”