“You’ve obviously seen the video of me in the Jacuzzi,” Steve Beaton says in a languid, assumptive tone. As if this is simply a statement of fact. Imagine being able to say those words to a complete stranger with the utter confidence that they are, indeed, true. The clip in question dates from 1993, and Beaton – then one of the world’s greatest darts players – is conducting an interview with the BBC’s Dougie Donnelly from the hot tub at the Lakeside Country Club: luscious locks flowing, moustache proud, a gold chain around his neck.
Thus was born the legend of the Bronzed Adonis. For a generation that grew up watching darts in the 1990s, Beaton is one of the last remaining links to that smoky golden age. He was the 1996 British Darts Organisation world champion, an icon of his era, a 6ft 4in tower of suave sophistication and sex appeal. And he may be pushing 60 these days, the curly mane pared sensibly back, the shirt now mostly buttoned up. But somehow the nickname coined early in his career by the commentator Tony Green still fits him perfectly: the easy charm, the smooth fluid action, the way he strolls on to the stage as if he’s just stepped off of a sunbed.
