Van Gerwen aims to win one more World Championship

MICHAEL van Gerwen has vowed he wants to win one more World Championship title as he aims to get his life back on track.

The three-times world champion has suffered a difficult time on and off the oche over the past few years.

MVG, 37, has dropped to World No.9 as he split from wife Daphne and his dad battled cancer.

However he is re-building his life, has lost a huge amount of weight and wants to get back to the top.

He told Sportnieuws.nl: “I want to become world champion at least one more time. But when you look at what I have already achieved, I could only have dreamed of that.

“But I don’t want to settle for that. If I start enjoying life again and become the best version of myself, I can still achieve many great things. I am absolutely convinced of that.”

Van Gerwen even admitted that his best mate Vincent Van der Voort asked him the last time he was truly happy.

He added: “I didn’t have an answer to that; I really didn’t know. Purely because I hadn’t felt good for a long time. That did shock me. When you’re in a rut, you start questioning things. People probably think it’s strange when I say that. He has a lot of money, success, and who knows what else, right? But that’s not what it’s about.

“I didn’t enjoy the success enough. To me, that was the most normal thing in the world. I won about 160 PDC tournaments. It felt more like assembly line work. It was more like, hop, the prize is in the bag and on to the next tournament.”

Van Gerwen has battled on in the sport despite the hardest of scenarios in his private life, including divorce from Daphne.

He has admirably dedicated his time to children Zoe and Mike.

He said: “That a relationship ends in such a way is painful. By now, I can say that it is better this way, also for me as a person. Of course, the divorce has had a huge impact on me. You suddenly have to adjust on many levels. That hasn't always been easy for me. My life has changed completely.

“I think we both always knew that we would never grow old together. I dare say that.

“We started leading increasingly separate lives. In the past, Daphne often went along to tournaments, but later, of course, she mostly stayed at home with the children. We grew apart.

“She remains the mother of my children. Of course, not everything runs smoothly, but we have an excellent relationship. You will never hear me say negative things about her. Everything I say, our children can read online for the rest of their lives. That doesn’t do a child any good. The interests of Zoe and Mike always come first.”

His father Henri was also diagnosed with cancer in 2025 but he is now on the road to recovery.

He said: Fortunately, he is doing better now. Let's hope it stays that way.”

Van Gerwen has now lost four and a half stone over the past couple of years and is now back to looking as fit as he was 15 years ago.

He said: “I never want to go back to my old weight. I struggled with that my whole life. I don't want that anymore. I feel much fitter and a better person.

“Everything is increasingly falling into place. I want to be able to say again soon: I am truly a happy person. To achieve that, I need to invest much more time in myself, both athletically and personally.”

Image by Taylor Lanning/PDC.