“I Have My Period, And I’ve Still Got To Play… Man Flu, It’s Not Real” — Fallon Sherrock Has No Sympathy For Michael Van Gerwen’s Illness Struggles

The Queen of the Palace has launched a frank and eye-catching broadside at darts’ culture of high-profile withdrawals — drawing on her own experiences to make the point without pulling a single punch.

There are few people in professional darts better placed to talk about playing through physical discomfort than Fallon Sherrock. A woman who has managed a serious kidney disease for years, competed at the highest level while managing chronic health challenges, and done so almost entirely without complaint. When she speaks on the subject of playing through illness, it carries weight.

And this week, she has spoken — with characteristic bluntness and a quote that the darts world will not stop talking about for some time.

The Quote That Set the World Talking

Speaking on the Double Tops podcast, Sherrock offered a pointed verdict on the growing number of high-profile illness-related withdrawals in the sport — with Michael van Gerwen’s recent string of absences sitting as the unavoidable backdrop to her comments.

“You have to just play, even when you don’t feel well,” she said. “I also have to play when I’m on my period. People don’t understand what cramps and discomfort you can have. Sometimes I don’t want to stand at the board at all, but I have to. If you don’t go and play well, you lose.”

She then turned her sights directly on the broader notion of men citing illness as a reason to step away from competition. “People say they’re sick… I have no sympathy for that. Man flu? That doesn’t exist. It’s just the flu — not because you’re a man. Sorry, but that’s how it is.”

The message was as clear as it was searingly direct. Pull yourself together and get on the oche.

The Target: Van Gerwen’s Absence Record

While Sherrock did not name Van Gerwen explicitly in every remark, the context made the intended target unmistakable. Her comments follow a run of absences from Van Gerwen, who had to withdraw from multiple tournaments due to health problems. The three-time world champion missed Night Three of the Premier League Darts 2026 in Glasgow and withdrew from Players Championship events 5 and 6, as well as the first European Tour event of the year — missing four consecutive tournaments in total.

Van Gerwen’s absence extended what had become an increasingly stop-start beginning to the year. The Dutchman opened his campaign in emphatic fashion by lifting the Bahrain Darts Masters title, a statement victory that suggested another dominant season could be on the horizon. Since then, however, momentum stalled.

When Van Gerwen returned in Belfast, he lost narrowly to Gerwyn Price 6-5 during Night Four of the Premier League. Sherrock’s view, expressed without a hint of diplomatic hedging, was that elite sport demands you show up regardless.

“You can’t say you’re not at your best and then expect it to count,” she added. “You have to show your top level, regardless of how you feel.”

Professionalism Over Excuses

At the heart of Sherrock’s argument is a demand for professional accountability — a standard she holds herself to even under circumstances that many players would use to justify stepping back.

“It’s a matter of professionalism,” she said. “You just have to go and try. Period. It’s not about making excuses, it’s about performing. That’s elite sport.”

For Sherrock, this is not abstract principle. She has been open about the severity of her kidney disease, which has impacted her career significantly. “My kidneys are only working to 23 percent of their capacity,” she revealed at one point. She has admitted that the illness affects her ability to practise and compete at full intensity: “I feel like it will be my B-game at the moment and I don’t know if I am able to get my A-game out.”

Yet she has repeatedly turned up, thrown her darts, and refused to make her condition a reason to withdraw. The contrast with the pattern of absences from some of her male counterparts — delivered in the bluntest terms she could find — is the point she is driving home.

A Broader Debate

Sherrock’s comments tap into a wider conversation in sport about the physical demands placed on women athletes that are often invisible to audiences and fellow competitors. The experience of competing while menstruating — with associated pain, fatigue and discomfort — is rarely discussed openly in professional sport. That Sherrock raised it in the context of a darts podcast, matter-of-factly and without embarrassment, is itself a statement.

Her remarks have prompted broader discussions within the darts world about physical challenges, particularly for female players. Where men sometimes withdraw due to illness, she demonstrates that women often have to push through — including during their periods — while still maintaining their performance level.

The irony of Sherrock, a player who has quietly battled one of the most serious ongoing health conditions in the sport, being the one to call out other players for illness-related absences will not be lost on anyone following the story.

Van Gerwen’s Side of the Story

Van Gerwen, for his part, has not hidden from the situation. He posted on social media during his Glasgow absence: “Sorry Glasgow — unfortunately I had to withdraw from the Premier League tonight. Thank you for your support.”

Dutch sources close to him reported during that period that he had “caught something and was on antibiotics.” Van Gerwen is not a player known for shying away from competition — his record of consistency over many years speaks for itself — and he did return to action in Belfast, suggesting his absence was genuinely health-related rather than an exercise in caution.

But Sherrock’s broader point stands beyond any individual case. The message she delivered on the Double Tops podcast is one that cuts to the bone of what professional sport demands: that you show up, that you compete, and that you find a way to perform even when every part of your body is telling you it would rather be somewhere else.

For Fallon Sherrock, that is not a philosophy. It is simply what she does every time she steps up to the oche.