Michael van Gerwen Tells Darts Rival to Retire ASAP in Brutal Interview

Michael van Gerwen has told one of his darts rivals to retire during a brutal interview.

On Tuesday night, three-time world champion Van Gerwen was back in 2026 PDC World Darts Championship action as he took on Ireland's William O'Connor on the Alexandra Palace stage.

After coming through a tough first round tie against Japan's Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, many expected O'Connor to push the Dutchman all the way.

However, Van Gerwen was in no mood to hang about as he produced a fine performance to clinch a 3-1 victory.

Looking ahead, the No.3 seed will take on Arno Merk in the third round, after the German stunned two-time champion Peter Wright 3-0 during Tuesday's afternoon session.

After winning against O'Connor, Van Gerwen was asked about Wright's early exit and gave a brutal assessment of his rival's form.

He said: "I'm not really surprised by his performance because he's been playing crap lately. I think it's time for him to retire anyway."

The Dutchman's comments come a week after Wright claimed that Van Gerwen's eyesight was 'probably going' but he 'won't admit it'.

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🎤 @MvG180 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲

🗣️ "He's been playing crap for lately, I think it's time for him to retire"

Listen in full now 🎥 👉🏻 https://t.co/DKywd5YEYX pic.twitter.com/jPV9qHsyqD

— Online Darts (@OfficialOLDarts) December 23, 2025

To which the 36-year-old replied: "If you look to my new dates here and there, I don't think there's anything wrong with my eyes. There's nothing wrong with my eyes, don't worry. I keep getting compliments.

"I would love to play Peter Wright. I hope he has a big mouth as he's had in the last two weeks, because I keep smashing him in exhibitions. He made so many comments over the last so many years. To speak the name of Peter Wright is a waste of my breath."

Over the last two years, Wright has endured a drastic dip in form and is likely to drop out of the top 32 when the latest world championship ends next month.

Fellow Scotsman and two-time world champion Gary Anderson was also asked to comment on Wright's form.

He said: "We can't play well all the time. People think we're robots and you've just got to play well all the time or a bad couple of games it's 'he's finished, he's retiring'.

"Just give folk a break, you know. We can't keep doing that day in and day out. We've seen Michael van Gerwen do that for probably the last decade. He has a blimp and it's 'that's it, he's finished'."