Cross went from top of world to near bottom

BY CRAIG SWAN ROB CROSS has lifted the lid on his astonishing 12 months as world champion as he returns to the scene of his life-changing success.

The Englishman is back at the Alexandra Palace to start the defence of his crown tonight after an incredible victory last year which plunged him into chaos, turmoil and near tragedy.

Cross’s life altered forever after sinking Phil Taylor and the whirlwind led to him putting on five stone in weight, worrying he was going to have a heart attack on stage in Scotland and fearing his mentor and manager Jon Archer was going to lose his life having ended up in intensive care.

The 28-year-old has reflected on a turbulent time before facing Jeffrey de Zwaan or Nitin Kumar and said: “It has been mad, great, crazy and really tough at times.

“I was doing media left, right and centre after the Worlds and suddenly realised I hadn’t picked up a dart to train for the Masters in late January.

“I’d not had a day to myself or with the family.

“Next minute you’re not just turning up and doing your own thing, you are world champion and everyone wants a piece of you.

“It’s like that line in Space Oddity by David Bowie, everybody wants to know what shirts you wear.

“Suddenly you belong to everyone else.

“I put on five stone in weight because of the crazy lifestyle I was having to deal with.

“Just travelling non-stop and eating the wrong stuff at stupid times. I looked down one day and couldn’t see the old boy!

“It was so bad I even thought I was having a heart attack on stage a few months back.

“It was terrifying. It turned out to be inflammation between the sternum and the ribs. It swells up and I felt this tightening in my chest.

“I was in the practice room in Scotland thinking, ‘I’ve got these pains in my chest’.

“Every time I brought my arms back it cracked open and the pressure released.

“I went on stage to play and

ROB CROSS