Wayne Mardle Makes Announcement That Has ‘Broken Him’ After Life Takes ‘Difficult Turn’
In a week that has already seen Wayne Mardle open up about grief in a way that resonated with many thousands of people, the Sky Sports darts commentator has shared another piece of difficult personal news — one that, in his own words, has “broken” him.
Taking part in a lengthy Q&A session on X on Monday, Mardle spoke warmly about a range of topics. He offered his thoughts on Michael van Gerwen’s recent form, named Leeds as his favourite stop on the Premier League calendar, and revealed his dream sports dinner party guests would be Dustin Johnson, Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt. It was the kind of characteristically good-natured, wide-ranging session his followers have come to expect.
Then someone asked about his two dogs — Sherlock, a Chocolate Labrador, and Watson, a Labradoodle — both of whom have been familiar presences on his social media for years, and a fixture in the life he shared with his wife Donna before her death in December 2024.
The response stopped the Q&A in its tracks.
“I’ve not told many this,” Mardle wrote, “life has taken a difficult turn and I’ve had to have them rehomed.”
He did not elaborate on the specific circumstances that led to the decision. But the weight of it was clear. Sherlock and Watson were not simply pets — they were woven into the fabric of the life Mardle had built with Donna, companions through the years of their 22-year marriage and, in the fourteen months since her passing, a connection to everything that had been.
The response from the darts community and Mardle’s wider following was immediate. Messages of support flooded in, and Mardle took a moment to acknowledge them. “I’ve had many messages and texts over the last hour or so,” he wrote. “I’m ok. I assure you, you’ll hear me spouting absolute tripe as usual on Thursday at the Premier League. Loves!”
The reassurance is vintage Mardle — deflecting with warmth and a flash of self-deprecating humour, even in the middle of something evidently painful. But the news follows a weekend in which he had already shown remarkable candour. On Saturday, he posted a TikTok video in which he spoke at length about his grief following Donna’s death, describing the experience as “absolutely brutal” and challenging the idea that bereavement follows a tidy, progressive journey. That video was widely shared and drew an outpouring of responses from people who recognised their own experiences in his.
The two moments, taken together, paint a picture of a man navigating a period of profound and compounding loss. Donna died aged 52 after a short illness on December 11, 2024. The couple had been together since their teenage years. Mardle missed the 2025 World Darts Championship in the immediate aftermath of her death before returning to his commentary duties in February 2025 at the Premier League opener in Belfast.
He has been a consistent presence in the commentary box since — including the 2026 World Championship and the ongoing Premier League season — and is due on air this Thursday. His signing of a new three-year deal with ITV, running alongside his existing Sky Sports commitments, is evidence of a professional life that continues with purpose and momentum.
But the personal picture, as this week has made clear, remains one in which loss keeps finding new forms. The dogs are gone. The home is quieter. And Wayne Mardle, for all the warmth and wit he brings to those who know his work, is doing what he has urged others to do: getting on with it, in his own way, one difficult day at a time.
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