BURNETT POT NOODLE STRUGGLE AFTER LOST FORTUNE

By Aaron Nijjar

RITCHIE BURNETT has opened up about the darkest moments of his life in darts — from living off benefits to heating Pot Noodles with radiator water.

‘The Prince of Wales’ won the BDO World Championship in 1995 and was once ranked world number one.

Burnett enjoyed immediate success on the PDC Tour as he reached the final of the World Matchplay in 2001 before being beaten by Phil Taylor.

But despite early success in his career, things later took a turn for the worse for the 58-year-old, who later found himself struggling to make ends meet.

In an interview with the Mirror, Burnett revealed this left him having to resort to extreme lengths in order to heat up his Pot Noodle dinner.

He said: “When times were hard and I had no money, I was in Wigan for a tournament and bought myself a Pot Noodle for my tea.

“But I didn’t have a kettle to boil water for it. The only thing I could do was drain the radiator from my room and use the hot water from that.

“It was all soily and brown but it worked and the Pot Noodle went down Okay.

“But I’d used a pair of nail scissors to open up the valve and it wouldn’t shut again, so hot, brown water was leaking out.

“All I could do was put a tray underneath it to catch it all. I didn’t get much sleep because I had to get up every hour to tip the water down the sink.”

The financial struggles came alongside a dip in form.

From 2005 to 2010, his only televised appearance was a UK Open match and a first-round exit at the 2007 World Championship.

Still, Burnett bounced back as he won a ProTour title in 2011 and reached the third round of the World Championship in 2014.

However more disappointment was in store for Burnett in 2015 when he was banned from darts for 18-months after testing positive for cocaine.

Three-time WDF major champ Burnett returned to competition in late 2016 and won two Challenge Tour titles.

A year later, he reclaimed his PDC Tour Card.

In 2023, Burnett enjoyed his best televised run in years — reaching the UK Open quarter-finals.

He beat two-time world champion Peter Wright along the way.

Speaking after that win, an emotional Burnett bravely opened up on the mismanagement of his finances.

He said: “I’m a tough old cookie. I love this game – I really do.

“I’ve been an idiot over the years, I’ve really underachieved. I’m just making up for lost time. I’ve earned two fortunes and spent three.”

Burnett narrowly missed out on the semi-finals, losing to Dimitri Van den Bergh.

The Welsh thrower made his debut on the World Seniors Darts championship in 2024, where he reached the second round before losing to Colin McGarry.

Burnett enjoyed an improved run in this year’s edition in February, progressing to the quarter-final stage before suffering defeat to fellow former BDO world champion Steve Beaton.

Image by Taylor Lanning.