Adrian Lewis has responded to Barry Hearn’s claims he wouldn’t receive an easy ride back onto the PDC Tour.
Jackpot has been off the PDC Tour since April 2023 for personal reasons but has announced a return to darts in the MODUS Super Series in 2025.
There has been a lot of clamour from fans for the return of the two-time World Darts Champion, but PDC boss Barry Hearn has told him he’ll have to re-gain his PDC Tour Card just like any other player.
Talking to The Sun, Hearn said: “Does he have to go through Q School? Yeah. We’d welcome him back with open arms.
“He has had his own personal problems. Which he has to come to terms with. But they are not our problems, they are his problems and it is up to him to solve them.”
Adrian Lewis has taken to social media to share his response to Hearn’s blunt statement.
Adrian Lewis doesn’t want any hand outs
Lewis is known to be a straight-talker and he responded in his trademark style ahead of the third World Darts Championship he’s set to miss.
Responding on X to Barry Hearn’s rejection, Jackpot wrote: “I’d never want any handouts and I’d never ask for one.
“I’ve taken 21 months off the PDC circuit for my own personal reasons hence why I’m not playing at this year’s World Championships.”
Lewis has not confirmed whether he’ll attend Q-School in the New Year, but Jackpot has been back out on the exhibition circuit alongside the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor.
Adrian Lewis wows fans at exhibition event
Lewis’ appearance at an exhibition event made headlines recently, but not for the reasons you’d expect from the darting legend.
The 39-year-old impressed on his return to the oche with a win over van Barneveld, but it was his singing voice that stunned fans.
Lewis performed a rendition of fellow Stoke-On-Trent native Robbie Williams’ Angels on stage, which was caught on camera by MDA Events.
If Jackpot doesn’t come back to the oche in the New Year, it looks like he could forge a very different career for himself!