STEPHEN BUNTING broke down in tears as he spoke about the negative response he has faced online to comments he is the self-proclaimed “people’s champion”.
Following his first-round win over Polish thrower Sebastian Białecki on Sunday December 14, the popular St Helens thrower called himself that moniker in a throwaway comment during his press conference.
Cruel keyboard warriors on social media pounced on those words and took him to task, saying that he has no right to call himself that.
Bunting, nicknamed the Bullet, clarified after his 3-0 second-round thrashing of Indian Nitin Kumar that he was only reflecting what Sky Sports and PDC have referenced about him in the past.
Yet unbeknown to the trolls, their vicious messages really affected Bunting, who was very emotional backstage at Ally Pally on Saturday night as he spoke to the press.
Bunting is one of the most popular players on the circuit – not only do fans love his David Guetta Titanium walk-on music but they are always buying merchandise off his website.
The emotional No4 seed had to briefly pause to fight back tears as he explained: “I’ve had some stick over social media. I made a comment in the media saying I was the people’s champion.
“That was literally a comment from what Sky have said, what PDC have said. It wasn’t me saying I’m the People’s Champion.
“I was just talking about what was said. I’ve had a lot of stick about that.
“Listen, I’m not the people’s champion. I turn up. I’ll try my best to win any game. I’ll give 110 per cent.
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“The fans have been unbelievable. Support on TikTok or Instagram, I’ve hit over 100,000 (subscribers) on YouTube.
“So, I feel the presence. I feel the support online. Sometimes you can look too much at social media. Yeah, there’s been quite a few negatives.
“I’ve had quite a few emails as well. But I need to rise above that.
“People online are fickle. Listen, you see the crowd in there tonight, they’re proper darts fans. They know what I’m about.
“I like to give back to the fans through YouTube, TikTok, through everything I do.
“If they see me in a pub or wherever, Tesco or a shopping centre, I’ll always give time to the fans.
“They’re so important. They’ve been a massive part of my career so far. Hopefully they can be a massive part of my career in the future.
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“I never, ever shy away from my fans. I’ll stand by that. I still think I’ve got the biggest fan base in darts. I’m lucky.”
Bunting – who plays Englishman James Hurrell in the Last 32 – was joined over the weekend by Toby while one-year Theo was back home cheering him on.
For now, he will leave the darts alone and enjoy Christmas time with his family.
The former Lakeside world champion said: “My Christmas will consist of mince pies, turkey, celebrating with the family, love, happiness, presents.
“It’s going to be amazing. I’m really looking forward to it. You can never count your chickens before the Worlds.
“You want to make sure you’re still in the tournament after Christmas. The first part of the plan, I’ve done that now.
“I can enjoy that now and make sure we have a great Christmas as a family and push on.”
