Darts world champ signed petition to bring back walk-on girls after brutal axing

16 December 2023 , 07:45

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Walk-on girls were removed from PDC events in 2018 in an attempt to make the sport more family friendly (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Five-time darting world champion Raymond van Barneveld was one of many players to petition for the sport’s walk-on girls to be reintroduced.

The PDC removed the glamorous models from their events in January 2018 when chairman Barry Hearn reluctantly conceded walk-on girls were "in danger of becoming incompatible with inclusive family viewing". Van Barneveld was one of those stars which opposed the change at the time and supported a petition - which amassed more than 50,000 signatures calling for their return.

The 2024 PDC World Championship got underway on Friday, with the action at the Alexandra Palace now a fixture cemented in the sporting calendar.

And while walk-on girls are still missing from the PDC World Championships and Premier League events, they are seen at exhibition tournaments.

And former walk-on girl Charlotte Wood, insisted the game's top darts stars ' didn't understand' the rationale behind their removal and would like to see them return. Wood said she lost 80 per cent of her income when the PDC made the decision to axe the models from their events.

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"We speak to the players at exhibitions and at the time we had a massive support from players like Raymond van Barneveld, who couldn’t understand it either," Wood told Daily Star Sport in 2022.

"I speak to the players all the time at exhibitions and they don’t understand it either. But then they wouldn’t because as I said, we were there and then we weren’t. There was a petition started that got something like 50,000 signatures when Barneveld tweeted about it.

Daniella Allfree and Charlotte Wood are among those who lost their roles with the PDC (Instagram)

Model Charlotte Wood says darts stars still don't understand why the PDC removed walk-on girls (Instagram)

Should walk-on girls be re-introduced at PDC darts events? Let us know your views in the comments section.

"We had a lot of tweets off the players saying this shouldn’t be happening and asking why we’d lost our jobs."

Despite being part of the PDC circuit prior to the 2018 decision, Wood says that her and fellow walk-on girls who received a financial hit by the decision didn't receive an apology.

"No, no [no apology]," Wood added. "The players say 'It’s just ridiculous, you girls should be there.' The fans say it straight away when they see us, too. It’s been five years now and bless them, they’re still saying it.

"It is lovely but it’s hard. It’s not going to come back. I don’t believe for one second it was a darts fan who made the call. Even when I was doing the walk-ons they could have chosen other models to do the job. I didn’t have it guaranteed that it was always going to be me. I suppose that’s the risk when you’re self-employed."

Benjamin Goddard