Former World Matchplay quarter-finalist trades tungsten for turntables after hitting “lowest point” of his career.
Jeffrey de Zwaan has announced a stunning volte-face that has left the darts world reeling: the 28-year-old Dutchman says he is abandoning the competitive mindset that defined his professional career and reinventing himself as a house music DJ — effective immediately.
In an emotional video posted to his Instagram (now since set to private), De Zwaan confessed that he had reached “rock bottom” following a string of early exits and a dramatic slump in PDC rankings. “I haven’t been able to look at myself in the mirror for months,” he said. “The darts mindset — the pressure, the solo travel, the silence after a loss — it was killing me.”
Once tipped as a future top-16 star after his famous 2018 World Matchplay victory over Michael van Gerwen, De Zwaan has seen his form collapse catastrophically. He currently sits outside the world’s top 64 and has failed to qualify for the last three major televised tournaments. Friends say a crushing first-round loss at a Players Championship event in Leicester last month proved to be the breaking point.
But just as fans feared the worst — that the likeable left-hander was walking away from the sport entirely — De Zwaan dropped a bombshell. He has signed with Amsterdam-based electronic label Aurora Beats and will make his debut DJ set at the famous Paradiso club on 14 February.
“Darts taught me discipline, rhythm, and how to perform under lights,” he said, laughing for the first time in the video. “Now I’m just swapping the board for a mixer. Same focus, better music.”
The reaction has been polarised. Some fans have applauded his honesty and courage, with former world champion Raymond van Barneveld tweeting: “Jeffrey is family. If this makes him happy, we should support him.” Others have expressed confusion and even betrayal, accusing him of using mental health struggles as a “publicity stunt” for a career switch — a claim De Zwaan vehemently denied.
“This isn’t a gimmick. I’ve been producing in my bedroom for two years while pretending to be okay. The real rock bottom was pretending I still wanted to compete when I didn’t.”
De Zwaan insists he is not formally retiring from darts and has not handed back his PDC tour card. However, he confirmed he will take an indefinite break from competitive play to focus on music, adding: “If I never throw another competitive dart, I’m fine with that. That’s how I know I’ve made the right choice.”
His first track, a progressive house single titled “Bullseye” (featuring sampled dart sounds and a spoken-word intro referencing his 2018 triumph), drops on streaming platforms this Friday. Proceeds from the track will go to the Dutch mental health charity MIND.
Whether De Zwaan’s second act proves a lost cause or an unlikely triumph remains to be seen. But for now, one of darts’ most naturally gifted players has swapped double 16 for a drop beat — and says he has never felt more alive.
