DARTS star Gerwyn Price has hit out at autograph hunters after a clip surfaced of him turning down a bloke’s request for his signature.
The former world champion was seemingly approached by an eager fan outside of a hotel, where he was asked to sign a merchandise item.
Turning down the man’s request though and instead offering him a photo, Price’s response divided opinion.
However, the 39-year-old has since responded, slamming the original autograph hunter as “spoiling” the sport for “real fans”, whilst claiming that the bloke was recording the entire exchange on a pair of camera glasses.
Footage filmed from the autograph hunter’s perspective shows Price approaching the front of the hotel as a crowd of fans await him outside.
As Price draws near, fans begin to clamour, with the man behind the camera asking Price: “Gerwyn, do you mind signing?”
Price quickly looks the man over before replying: “I won’t sign but I’ll have a picture.”
Audibly disappointed, the autograph hunter replies: “How come?”
Now in the middle of a snap with another nearby fan, Price barely pays the man any mind as he reveals: “I just don’t sign anything man.”
Accepting the Welshman’s reasoning, the autograph hunter replies, “No probs”, as Price grabs another photo with a fan.
Deciding he doesn’t fancy leaving empty-handed, the fan opts for a photo instead, lining up next to Price for a pose.
The clip soon did the rounds on social media, where Price’s decision was met with split opinions.
Whilst some fans believed the Iceman was wrong to turn the autograph hunter down, others believed the bloke was out to make a quick buck by grabbing Price’s autograph to sell on.
Price later took to social media himself to set things straight about the encounter and address fans upset.
In a post he wrote: “I’m so happy this has been posted, these people are the reason we don’t sign things, and are the people that spoil it for the real darts fans.
“What you don’t see is hands and bags full of merchandise, and also this guy is filming from a pair of glasses, unknown to the players.
“Goes to show what sort of people are out there, please share as this has invaded my personal space and I haven’t given this person the right to film me and put on social media.
“These people turn up at hotels and don’t even attend events. No signing for you mate, and I’m so glad I spotted you was one of them (sic).”
Price has since received support in his stance on the autograph hunters from fans on social media after posting his response to the video.
Footage of his interaction was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “This clip of Gerwyn Price is doing the rounds on Facebook and people are raging because he refused to sign something.”
The post has since received over 2,800 likes and more than 200 comments from users quick to stick up for Price.
One user said: “Love this from Gezzy. Would be on eBay in the same day he signed it.”
Another added: “Surely you’d rather have a picture than have something signed anyway?”
A third commented: “I’m not a fan of Gerwyn Price but don’t see the issue there. He’s polite enough and offered to have a picture with them all.”
A fourth wrote: “Gezzy is a top bloke, absolutely right not sign just to be sold on eBay (sic). He’s still [taken] a photo which surely is the more valuable thing to any real fan.”
