Darts legend Colin 'Jaws' Lloyd transformed by health regime

Only a fraction of players come close to hitting the heights of the man who came to be known as ‘Jaws’ – the builder who left behind the bricks and mortar of the construction site to pursue his passion and make a name for himself on the darts world scene.

But despite his mental resilience, Mr Lloyd, who turns 49 next birthday, tells the new generation of darts players coming through the ranks how physical health will benefit their game – for it was the physical element which held the world number one back.

Mr Lloyd’s involvement in darts came long before he had to worry about mental or physical stamina, however.

He was still a schoolboy when he first familiarised himself with doubles, fives, and bullseyes, taking up darts at the age as a youth when he came home to find a dartboard in the family home in Aldham.

A natural aptitude for the game soon developed into a drive and dedication to keep improving, and a young Colin Lloyd represented Essex in the youth leagues when he was a 13-year-old before becoming a fully-fledged county player at the age of 16.

Mr Lloyd explains he had planned to take a step back from the sport in his mid-20s, but after pocketing a tidy £3,500 from a ranked event, he felt it was time to press on and make a living out of his passion by playing darts full time.

Happy memories - Colin Lloyd won the World Grand Prix in 2004

He explained: “I pushed on from there, really – I got involved in the system and played in my first TV event in 1999.”

His career is certainly a glittering one – Mr Lloyd won the World Grand Prix in Leicester in 2004, and then the World Matchplay in Leicester the following year, when he became world number one.

Add in a glut of other tournament wins at home and abroad, and there was no question Mr Lloyd, at the peak of his powers, was one of the sport’s big hitters on the world scene.

At the oche - Colin Lloyd in his prime as a professional darts player

But for all Mr Lloyd’s successes, he still harbours regrets that he could have enjoyed even greater successes had he looked after his body better.

Indeed, he spent much of his career as a diabetic, which was particularly detrimental during three-day tournaments where his performance levels would drop to such an extent that he was often in the car home whilst his competitors battled it out on the final day.

“If it was a Friday, Saturday, Sunday competition, then I was no good for man nor beast on a Sunday,” he said.

“I just had nothing left – it would be a washout, and I would be in the car at 2.30pm after the competition had started at 12.00.”

It’s not as if Mr Lloyd stood out from other darts players of the 2000s with his heavy build – but nevertheless, the competitor inside him can only wonder how much more he could have achieved had he been a figure of fitness during his playing days.

“I was mentally strong – very mentally strong – but physically if I was able to play more I would have been winning more.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing… it’s too late now.”

There is an obvious sense of disappointment in Mr Lloyd’s voice, even though he knows there is not much good on wondering what he could do if he could turn the clock back.

He references Gerwyn Price, the former rugby league player turned darts professional, as an example of a player who is cannier with his fitness, adding that teetotal darts players are less unusual these days.

There was a stage when Mr Lloyd weighed 20 stone – and although leaving his job at the building site was the best course of action for professional darts, he admits it was detrimental to his health.

Team – Colin with fitness instructor Coralie Mariaux

If nothing else, it is certainly something he has put right in recent years – but it was not before Mr Lloyd had reached a point during the first coronavirus lockdown when he realised he desperately needed to change.

“I was diabetic and I was stuck at home – I would normally be out and about but instead I was stuck in the house and the garden.

“It was absolutely killing me – I was just eating and drinking and I thought ‘this ain’t right’.

“I started doing a bit of running, walking, running, walking, and I had lost a bit of weight, but I started creeping back into my old ways.”

Although he had taken the initial steps himself, Mr Lloyd still needed a structure and an intensity to maintain the gains he had made off his own back – and that is exactly what he found when he joined a fitness class called Tone to the Bone.

He had initially agreed to go along to the class as a favour for a friend of his – who was the only male in the class – and even though watching the first class from the side lines was enough to make him sweat, once he had put himself forward, there was no going back.

Race to fitness - Colin Lloyd being put through his paces at Colchester Fitness Centre

He credits the Tone to the Bone instructor, Coralie Mariaux, for his physical transformation which has seen him drop to 13st 7lbs.

“I don’t think Coralie realises how much of a difference she has made.

“I never thought I could run a parkrun, let alone go out for a 10k – never in a million years did I think I could do that.”

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Mr Lloyd finds himself on Abbeyfield with Ms Mariaux’s fitness class – and again, Mr Lloyd insists its success is down to her.

“Coralie works her butt off for Tone to the Bone – all we have to do is turn up, because she sorts everything.

“We have a lot of the old ‘yada yada yada,’ and all we do is the session – she then goes home and sends us all the videos from the class.

“That’s another reason why I love going – they’re a great bunch of people.”

Perhaps the inkling of regret is not as pressing for Mr Lloyd after all – not because of the success of his career, but because, now, his physical transformation has given him a new outlook.

The change may have come too late for his darts, it didn’t come too late for him.