I was down to my last £20 and had ‘absolutely nothing’… darts transformed my life after winning £1million prize money

NATHAN ASPINALL was down to his last £20 before darts transformed his life.

The Stockport ace is now one of the best players on the circuit - as recognised by his selection for Premier League Darts.

He joined the PDC in 2012 at the age of 22 but the former accountant had a slow start to his darts career.

With prize money hard to come by early on Aspinall was down on his luck and barely had a penny to his name.

Aspinall, 32, revealed he was around £10,000 in debt before a change of fortune at the oche saw him transform his life.

He said on the Love The Darts Podcast: "The truth is I was about £10,000 in debt but it's perspective isn't it?

"I love my job, I've got the best job in the world and all my family are proud of what I do but looking back at the memories, six years ago I had absolutely nothing and now my kids have the best life ever.

"My fan base is obscene. Every time I walk out, the reaction I get from the crowd - they might not even like me but they like 'Mr Brightside' - that's what spurs me on.

"So if I'm down in the dumps or I'm not playing well the crowd start singing my name and that's what turns me into the winner that I am."

Aspinall has now earned more than £1million in prize money, thanks in part to his 2019 UK Open win and his success in the World Matchplay last year.

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He has also reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship twice, in 2019 and 2020.

Aspinall finished as runner-up in the Premier League in 2020 too and reached the Masters semi-final this year.

He is third in the year's Premier League standings after being knocked out in Thursday night's semi-final in Dublin by eventual winner Luke Humphries.