Former Chelsea footballer John Terry has called on Stephen Bunting to adopt a "nastier" on-stage persona to help turn around his winless start to the 2026 Premier League Darts season. Bunting, the world number six, has yet to secure a victory after three weeks, losing 6-3 to Gian van Veen in Glasgow last Thursday and sitting on zero points—a repeat of his slow start last year, where he also had no points after seven weeks.
In an appearance on the Double Tops podcast, Terry highlighted Bunting's demeanor as a potential weakness. "I have to say, with him, he seems like the nicest guy you will ever meet," Terry said. "When I am watching the darts — and him in particular — I want to see a little bit of nasty. Just barge someone or create a little something to throw people off. He is the nicest guy — nobody is going to stand there and have a fight with him."
Terry suggested that Bunting should disrupt opponents' rhythm by employing tactical gamesmanship. "But you then have to tap into the dark arts of going, 'Okay, how can I drag my walk-out song even longer?' I want to be second out. For the first set, I am going to drop my darts by accident.' All of these bits — why not give them a go? If somebody is really good in their rhythm, how do you break that? You have to tap into stuff like that, and he needs to because he is so nice. I want to see a nastier Stephen Bunting."
Bunting heads into Night Four in Belfast under pressure to earn his first points of the campaign, with Terry's advice offering a unconventional strategy to shake up his performance.
