Darts walk-on girls axed by PDC sell out calendar in two days – and promise more
Charlotte Wood can't get over how popular the darts walk-on girls still are, almost five years since they were controversially axed by the PDC.
Fans were outraged when Wood, 35, and pal Daniella Allfree were sacked in January 2018. The decision to get rid of them was blamed on a minority of snowflakes, with darts' loyal followers up in arms at the decision.
Almost five years on from that ludicrous ban, the feeling of hurt still lingers for Wood – but she's refuses to let it get her down. That's because Wood and Allfree – who wowed fans for many years alongside the likes of Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld – are just as in-demand now as they were back then.
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When they're not chaperoning the stars at darts exhibitions across the country, they're struggling to keep up with demand for their popular calendars, which this year sold out in two days flat.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport, Wood remains incredibly humbled at the love and affection she and Allfree receive from darts fans up and down the UK.
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"It’s mental that five years on we are still talked about so much, and we’re selling calendars every year," she says. "We started the calendars when we were on the darts scene, and we thought we’d carry them on.
"We even did a 'best of' during Covid because we couldn’t get together to shoot, and it just sold so well. They sell out so quickly, and we’re overwhelmed every single year by the amount that we sell.
"This year the majority of our calendars went within two days. We always set a pre-order date and they just fly.
"This is our seventh calendar, and every year we're just so overwhelmed. We’re going to keep doing them for as long as the fans want them. All of the lovely tweets we get from people that collect them are just so sweet. We’re really humbled that people still want to buy our calendars. Every year we say, 'this might be the last year,' but if people still want them, then we’ll keep doing them."
Having spent so much time together on the road at PDC events, it should come as no surprise that Wood and Allfree's friendship has been everlasting, even if their job as walk-on girls ended five years ago.
"Daniella and I knew each other through modelling because we did the walk-ons and we spent a lot of time together," Wood adds.
"We’d spend more time together than we did with our own families sometimes! We’d go away together to tournaments and we’d be together the whole time. We have a really special bond, even now we’re really good friends.
"And that’s lovely because sometimes now we might not see each other for four or five months at a time. But when we do see each other, it’s like we’ve never been apart. We’ll always be good friends, which I’m grateful for."
Wood and Allfree became a mainstay of PDC events for many years and were loved by darts fans far and wide. But why does Wood think their partnership, in particular, captured the imagination of so many?
"I think maybe it worked so well with me and Daniella because we were such good friends. I suppose it was the blonde and brunette kind of thing as well! It looked good on camera and we had a good relationship as friends so it just worked."
The blonde beauty also told us that it was difficult first seeing the darts stars again after their axing, but adds that she is now a huge fan of the sport thanks to her work as a walk-on girl.
"When we first got axed and we’d see the players it was a bit upsetting because you’d only see them for a few hours when we used to be on the road with them all the time.
"I love watching darts anyway, through the job I just really got into it. It’s a great sport."
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