Darts world champion opens up on wife's incurable illness and being at a 'crossroads'

A two-time world darts champion has admitted to being at a 'crossroads' in his career while supporting his wife through an incurable illness. Adrian Lewis is one of the sport's larger-than-life characters and was Phil Taylor's protege during his early career. He went on to win the World Championship in 2011 and 2012 and is regarded as one of his era's greatest players.

Lewis stepped away from the professional circuit in 2023, citing stress and the need to care for his poorly wife. He gave up his tour card at the end of last year but recently returned to competitive darts via the Modus Super Series. Since announcing his break, the 40-year-old has been devoted to helping his wife and daughter through their respective conditions.

"Sarah's got an incurable kidney disease, so we obviously spent a lot of time in hospital," he told the podcast. "My daughter, she's got autism and ADHD, so she's got them both combined.

"She's on disability. So, and all that like, like I said, she's at our level, our level needs. But yeah, she's still a diamond."

Lewis insisted there was no chance of a half-hearted return to the big stage, with the man from Stoke-on-Trent taking time to consider his next move.

He added: "We'll see where January takes us in regards to going back to professional darts. You know, obviously, I'll never write it off and say I'll never go back to the PDC because that would be my aim again.

"But I wouldn't turn up there, say I won my tour card back and then after six months say: 'No, I wasn't ready for it'. I want to make sure I'm 100 per cent ready, mentally right and just go at it all guns blazing.

"I feel, I mean, I haven't really said anything to anybody else really. I feel as if like it's a crossroads. Do you know what I mean?"

Lewis, who was the first player to hit a nine-dart finish in a World Championship final, previously opened up on the mental strain he was dealing with before stepping away from professional darts.

Earlier this year, he told The Guardian: "It's like a rollercoaster because you're going through that many emotions when you're on the stage. You come off, and obviously you're not physically tired, but mentally it takes a lot out of you.

"You're on such a high and then when you come back home, you go low. You're constantly picking yourself up and you haven't really got time to enjoy anything.

"Like, when I won the World Championship, I didn't have time to enjoy it because I was getting ready straight away for the Premier League. You know you're going to be away five or six days a week. You miss your kids. You miss birthdays."

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