Rob Cross makes confession after split from wife at Matchplay Darts | Other | Sport

Rob Cross has hearbreakingly admitted that darts is all he has left following his commanding 10-3 round-one win over Danny Noppert at the World Matchplay Darts on Monday. This comes after the 35-year-old announced his split from wife Georgia last month after many years together.

Announcing the news on social media, he wrote at the time: “After a difficult and challenging few years, Georgia and I have decided to separate. Our commitment to being co-parents to our four wonderful children remains as strong as ever and they are our priority. Obviously it has been a difficult period while we work out the future. We ask for privacy during this time. Thank you.”

Cross has since returned to the stage for this month’s World Matchplay and made a bright start as he looks to climb the tournament rankings. He said: “Motivation, I suppose, my manager, he had a little conversation and me and him, we don’t have many conversations.

“I love to win an argument and I love to win a conversation, but he sat me down and he said, ‘come on son, have you seen the World Matchplay race’ and I was like ‘nah, not looked at it’ because I never ever look. I’ve been blessed, I’ve been silverspooned, I’ve been the other stuff but he said to me, ‘you’re really in trouble’ so following that I thought ‘alright, I’ll have a little peek.

“I was about forty some-odd, I was in no man’s land but my words to him was ‘I’m going to be alright, don’t worry about it, just wash it off.’ But when I did look at it, that was my motivation.”

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Having made the first step to get back to outstanding form, Cross also made an heartbreaking admission.

He added: “If you miss this place [World Matchplay] you’re doing something wrong in your career and I’ve been very fortunate to be here, most of my years, I think all my years actually.

“Since I’ve been professional I’ve loved this place and to miss it, actually, it was probably heartbreaking. Maybe give up, you know, I’m not too sure. I suppose I look at darts now, I’m single, it’s all I’ve really got in the world now, it’s darts. I can just concentrate at that.”

The former world champion darts player has been some difficult moments both on the board and financially. Last December, he was disqualified from acting as a company director for five years, following the collapse of his business earlier last summer. Voltage’s company failed to pay more than £450,000 in tax.

The Kent‑born thrower set up Rob Cross Darts Limited in May 2017 to manage his prize money – including the £400,000 he earned for winning the world title. But between March 2020 and November 2023, Cross withdrew over £300,000 in company funds that should have gone to creditors, including HMRC. By the time the business entered insolvent liquidation in late 2023, Cross had also taken more than £400,000 through a director’s loan account.

Cross is banned from serving as a company director until June 2030, a sanction revealed last summer. He has since entered an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) to repay part of the money he owes, with monthly instalments that rise and fall depending on his darts earnings.

“It’s not the proudest moment of my life,” he said at the time. “I’ve done wrong, and I’ll hold my hands up to it. Going down this route with the IVA to pay the money back means I’m not running. I suppose you make mistakes in life. I’m willing to correct them; it’s going to tarnish me, but I’m going to do the right thing.”

Cross moved into round two of the World Matchplay after the win over Danny Noppert. He will now face Gerwyn Price on Wednesday, with the Welshman surviving a major scare before overturning 4-0 and 6-2 deficits to beat Germany’s Martin Schindler 11–9.