SNAKEBITE TO PLAY IT PLAIN WHILE WIFE JO BATTLES PAIN

PETER WRIGHT may have to complete the Premier League campaign without his trademark mohawk hairstyle and warpaint.

Former world champion ‘Snakebite’ spends up to three hours in the barber’s chair being converted into a kaleidoscope of colour by hairdresser wife Jo (above).

But she is in such pain, awaiting a back operation next month, that Wright is reluctant to let her travel to Milton Keynes for the later stages of the Unibet tournament, where he faces Nathan Aspinall tonight.

So in place of one of the most instantly recognisable sportsmen in the world (below), Snakebite may walk into the Marshall Arena with a barnet and outfit as plain as the bullseye in the middle of a dartboard.

Wright said: “Jo’s health is a huge worry and she’s my main priority. She’s in pain every day and it’s been the same since March last year. It’s not nice to see her going through so much agony. She tries to get to the darts and do my hair but it’s really hard now – she can’t even stand up.

“Jo has an operation scheduled for mid-may and hopefully it all goes to plan and she gets it fixed.

“It’s the second half of the Premier League just after her op. I’ve told her, ‘You’re not going, I’ll go and play without my hair done’.

Wright upped the ante before this year’s Premier League, claiming five-times winner Michael van Gerwen would not win a televised darts major this year.

But he now admits it was all a wind-up, saying: “Of course Michael can win a TV tournament this year.

“I like to fire people up. I do it because I want the player to play well against me, and not just MVG.

“I want them to be playing at their best, then I will often play my best against them.”