Michael Smith embraced his wife and kids in emotional scenes after his magical World Darts Championship title triumph - but had previously banned them for 'putting him off'.
'Bully Boy' was crowned world champion for the first time on Tuesday night after toppling Michael van Gerwen 7-4 at Ally Pally in a final for the ages.
An inspired Smith won the greatest darts leg ever seen in set three as he nailed an unforgettable nine-darter just after Van Gerwen had agonisingly wired D12 on his own attempt.
And the St Helens star stormed to his maiden Sid Waddell trophy and a £500,000 cheque with stunning scoring and clinical finishing to stun heavy favourite Van Gerwen in North London.
A fitting celebration saw family man Smith race over to his wife Dagmara and two young sons as soon as he hit the title-clinching D8.
But Smith's family were only in attendance for the finest night in his sporting career after he reversed his decision on allowing them to watch him play live.
Superstitious Smith explained he'd banned partner Dagmara and his children from his semi-final clash against Gabriel Clemens because he had lost every time they had seen him reach the last four.
"They came yesterday and it put me off," he told Sky Sports on Monday. "They never come early on in the tournament so they were banned today. They will be back tomorrow though."
And Smith revealed after sealing his first major title at the Grand Slam of Darts in November that he was close to kicking his wife and two sons out of the arena in Wolverhampton as they were too distracting.
"They were banned for semis because every time I made the semis [and they were there] I got beat," he said at the time. They then came down for the final.
"The way it started off, I thought ‘they’re going!’. I told Junior [one of his sons] to shut up twice because he was screaming."
But Smith will cherish sharing such a magical moment with his family and was almost overcome with emotion as he poignantly acknowledged his two sons following his win.
Asked if it was the greatest moment of his life, Smith said: “No, the two greatest moments in my life [his sons] are sat over there now. If I didn’t have kids that would be it.
“For my sporting memory, it’s the greatest ever and I don’t think that’ll ever be topped. Even if I won a second, it would never top the way I just felt there.”
