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Darts legend Bobby George has stunned fans by revealing one of the most bizarre keepsakes in British sport, his amputated toe, preserved in a bottle of vodka, proudly displayed in the bar of his lavish Essex mansion.
The flamboyant 79-year-old, famous for his golden jewellery, dramatic walk-ons and iconic status during the sport’s 1980s boom, made the jaw-dropping admission in his new autobiography Still Here! The King of Bling.
George, a former World Championship finalist turned TV pundit, explained that he has undergone multiple toe amputations due to a painful and debilitating genetic condition. While three of the toes were disposed of by medical staff, George managed to keep the first one, and decided to preserve it in true Bobby George fashion.
“Phil showed it to me and I asked if I could keep it,” he writes. “Phil presented it to me in a little jar but said that he couldn’t give me the proper stuff, formaldehyde, maybe?, as it was poisonous.”
Instead, George opted for vodka, and now, the toe-in-a-bottle is a conversation starter like no other at the bar in “George Hall,” his self-built, 18-bedroom Essex estate purchased in 1994.
“People don’t believe me, or at least they don’t, until they see me without my socks on,” he joked in the book. “Or if they come to my bar and see the evidence for themselves.”
The former darts showman explained that his rare condition caused his toes to pop out of their sockets and painfully overlap, eventually making walking unbearable.
“It got so bad that I couldn’t get my shoes on. I couldn’t walk without checking my balance each step. It was so painful on some days that if I’d had a sharp enough knife I would have chopped them off myself,” he revealed.
With no medical solution available, George underwent what he calls Operation Toot-Toot-Tootsie Bye-Bye, a darkly humorous nod to his trademark larger-than-life personality.
The revelation has sparked stunned reactions from fans, with many calling it “the most Bobby George thing ever.” But the eccentric darts icon has never shied away from doing things his own way, and preserving a part of himself in vodka just might be his most outrageous move yet.
