Michael van Gerwen has issued a statement apologising to his family after the Sun newspaper published an article alleging that the Dutchman had arranged secret liaisons with a woman named Stacey Owen.
The article claims that van Gerwen booked a £69 per night hotel room for himself and Ms Owen, despite only being married to his childhood sweetheart Daphne, for eight months. The full article can be found here….
In his statement, issued yesterday evening, van Gerwen apologised to Daphne for his actions, but denied any physical relationship with Ms Owen.
The 25-year-old said: “I deeply regret my decision to exchange messages with Stacey Owen and my decision to meet her whilst I was already in the UK to play in the Premier League. Whilst Ms Owen was aware from the outset that I was married, I should not have engaged in the exchanges I did. I wish to make it clear that there has never been any physical relationship between Ms Owen and myself.”
“My primary concern is for my family and my wife Daphne, whom I apologise to unreservedly. My hope is that people will now allow me to move forward and focus on my performances on the Oche,” van Gerwen added.
Van Gerwen married Daphne in the immediate aftermath of last year’s World Matchplay in July. She regularly attends darting events with her husband; most recently the German Darts Masters and Week 9 of the Premier League, therefore the news may come as a surprise to many.
The Dutchman has enjoyed a phenomenal start to 2015, winning the first two majors of the year; the Unibet Masters and the UK Open. van Gerwen also made history a fortnight ago, becoming the first man to win three successive European Tour events; after he added the German Darts Masters to his ever-growing collection. He has also made an unbeaten start to this year’s Premier League, amassing 18 points from a possible 20.
He faces compatriot Raymond van Barneveld in Aberdeen this Thursday; Barney’s form has been extremely impressive over the last month; he has secured two valuable wins against Phil Taylor to kick-start his play-off push and he always enjoys a rapturous reception from his tartan ‘Barney Army’. It will certainly be interesting to see how MvG copes with the added scrutiny.
Josh's Dartistry 
There’s no smoke without fire!
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Certainly not mate! Judging by Michael’s statement there was certainly some legitimacy to the article. However, I do hope Michael and Daphne can resolve their issues and move forward. Will be interesting to see if this affects his performances in the coming weeks!
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And what business is it of The Sun’s?
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Think it’s more because of van Gerwen’s profile mate. He’s now World No 1 and is taking over Taylor’s mantle if you like, so everything he does is far-more publicised. Hopefully this doesn’t affect his darts and him and Daphne can move forward together.
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This has absolutely nothing to do with darts, please let their private life stay private. Poor Daphne I know what this feels like.
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I completely appreciate your opinion Gillian; but this news is already in the public domain and I’m just informing everybody of van Gerwen’s response to the allegations. Let’s now hope that Michael and Daphne can resolve the situation and move forward.
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Don’t you think Stacey Owen has a few questions to answer? She must have known he was recently married but obviously didn’t care!
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I agree mate. It takes two to tango as they say!
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