Scott Williams has built a reputation as one of darts' most outspoken characters, and the Englishman admits his spontaneity has landed him in hot water before. Yet, despite the occasional fallout, Williams insists he has no intention of changing who he is to fit the mould of a professional darter. Authenticity, he says, is everything to him once he steps on stage.
"I guess the most important thing is being yourself," Williams said. "Unfortunately for me, myself is someone a bit eccentric and erratic and I say the wrong things at the wrong time because I don't really have a filter." With his results drawing increasing attention, Williams faces more media duties than ever, but he remains firmly against media training. "I'm not media trained, I don't want to be media trained. I feel like if I was media trained it wouldn't be as raw and as natural as it is for me."
That raw approach has made him a popular interviewee, as he explained: "Everyone wants me because I speak, I'm well spoken, I'm nice and loud and I'm straight to the point most of the time. It's easy for me, but I do have to be able, you're absolutely right. I can be a naughty boy."
Reflecting on past controversies, Williams pointed to a well-known moment with Luke Humphries at the Grand Slam of Darts three years ago, when a hand gesture he made was captured on camera. "I put two fingers up to Luke Humphries at the Grand Slam three years ago, but it wasn't malicious and everyone knows it," he explained. "It was just unfortunately someone captured the still from Sky's TV, that's all it was. It was just a mate and I just went, and that's it."
Williams acknowledged that post-match adrenaline can make things tricky, especially after a big win. "You've got so much adrenaline running through you. Someone like me, that's why they haven't interviewed me on the stage for the last three years, because I say silly stuff." Still, he insists he is trying to behave: "I am learning to behave myself, I haven't swore once on this one. I swore a couple of times elsewhere and I was like, oh. So I'm trying, I'm trying my best."