Joe Cullen was in no mood to speak to Sky’s Abigail Davies after beating Wessel Nijman (Image: Sky Sports)
Joe Cullen has hit back after being criticised for his frosty post-match interview with Sky Sports’ Abigail Davies at the . Many might have thought Cullen would be buoyant after thrashing Wessel Nijman 3-0, but he was notably off with Davies and stuck mostly to one-word answers.
Cullen, 35, advanced to the third round at Alexandra Palace after his dominant win over Nijman, who was the bookies’ favourite ahead of their clash. And ‘The Rockstar’ was visibly frustrated with the fact he’d been underestimated as such by much of the world.
The Bradford native wasn’t inclined to talk much with Davies, who was among those to predict he’d go out of the competition in his first match in her alongside Paul Nicholson. Any consensus was perhaps understandable given Cullen had won only three of his past 12 matches coming to Ally Pally, but he was criticised as being “rude” and giving the most basic answers to Davies.
Speaking at the press conference after his second-round win, he said: “I’ve struggled this year on the oche and off the oche so to find a performance like that, to be honest I’ve got you guys to thank because I don’t think I would have played like that if I had read some of the nonsense that I read beforehand.
“Honestly, the media attention that Wessel’s got; again, this is not a reflection on him, he seems like a fantastic kid, he’s been caught up in a few things beforehand [referring to Nijman’s match-fixing ban in 2020], but he’s served his time and held his hands up like a lot haven’t.
“So I think the way I’ve been treated, probably, with the media and things like that. . .I know, obviously, you guys have no control over the bookies, but I’ve been shown no respect. So I won’t show respect to any of you guys tonight. I’m gonna go home, cheers.”
Cullen later stormed out of his press conference (Image: Sky Sports)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Cullen then cleared out of the media room as he took an early exit from answering any more questions. However, he took to social media later on Sunday to tell a detracting fan he and Davies were on good terms immediately prior to their interview.
“Last thing I’ll say just to clarify this…… myself & Abi get on brilliant,” he wrote on X. “I briefed Abi before the interview started that I wouldn’t be giving her much…… and she replied ‘no problem sugar t**s!’ [in the voice of Gavin & Stacey character, Nessa] – just to draw a line under that. Enjoy Xmas guys.”
Both the interview and press conference drew a largely negative response from fans online, where one wrote: “I’ve got no respect for any sportsman that conducts interviews in this manner. So rude from Joe Cullen.”
Joe Cullen STORMS OUT of Interview as he Slams Media For ‘Writing Him Off’??????The Rockstar was not happy at being ranked the outsider against Wessel Nijman and did not finish his post match press conference
— Darts Now (@DartsNow_)
Another added: “Always been a fan of Cullen but think this is poor from him. Being annoyed at being a big underdog I can understand, but people having an opinion on who they think will win doesn’t make them bad people.”
Others came to Cullen’s defence and pointed out Davies was among those to predict Nijman would win their exchange prior to the tournament. One of his supporters chimed in: “If that’s what is going to get him going and fired up so be it.”