"I would probably need a new nickname now!” - After massive weight loss, Andy Smith has eyes on the World Seniors Darts Tour

Andy Smith was an established darting name of days gone by. First in the BDO and then in the PDC during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Smith was known as "The Pie Man" because of his weight. Recently, however, a photo of the now 56-year-old Englishman appeared, showing him losing over seven stone. "When you’re playing darts, you’re drinking and you’re eating. You’re not doing a lot of exercise, you’re going to bed late, then getting up and having a full English breakfast,” Smith told the Daily Star.

New girlfriend

"I met my new girlfriend, Alison, and I gradually started to lose weight. She bought me some shirts and they were like a boob tube on me! I said ‘I can’t wear them, you’ll have to send them back’. She said ‘no, you’ll fit into them by September’. This was in June. I just cut down on all the bad things."

"I’d been looking after my dad, who’s passed away now," Smith continued. "He was a diabetic. If his blood sugar was low, he had to eat sweet stuff. He was having cakes and stuff. So every time he had a cake, I’d have one. I was just eating all the wrong things. Gradually I started to lose weight. It’s taken a while but I’m chuffed. I can now get into 34 [waist] jeans. I’ve gone from 23 stone to just under 16."

New nickname

Smith lost his Tour Card in 2016 but now revitalised, he can forsee a return TV darts. “I could probably still hit a 180 but I’m not consistent enough. I just need to practice, but I haven’t got round to that yet. I wouldn’t mind coming back into the Seniors and giving some of them a bit of a bashing. I miss the players but not the travelling. I miss the money. I was earning 50-60 grand a year and I wasn’t even in the top 16. I was in the top 32."

There's just one problem if he does return. “Everybody still knows me as the Pie Man but I would probably need a new nickname now!”