Darts hero Bobby George has own amputated body part in bottle of vodka in home bar | Wales Online

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Darts legend Bobby George has disclosed that he keeps a toe he had amputated in a bottle of vodka.

One of the sport's most flamboyant figures during the late 1970s, 80s and 90s, George was renowned for his love of extravagant jewellery, earning him the nickname 'King of Bling'.

He reached the final of the BDO World Championship in 1980 and 1984 and clinched the esteemed News of the World title in 1979 and 1986. His success on the exhibition darts circuit also brought him considerable wealth, allowing him to build an 18-bedroom mansion, dubbed George Hall, on land he bought over three decades ago.

Stashed amidst his collection of darts memorabilia is one of the four toes he had removed in 1999 due to a hereditary condition. While three were disposed of medically, he was permitted to keep one, which now takes pride of place in a vodka bottle at his bar.

In his new autobiography, 'Still Here! The King of Bling', he wrote: "Nobody believes me, or at least they don't, until they see me without my socks on.

"Or if they come to my bar in George Hall and see the evidence for themselves. There's some sort of gene in my body that has caused the toes to pop out of their socket and cross over.

"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.

"There was nothing that the medical profession could do, so it became 'Operation Toot-Toot-Tootsie Bye-Bye'."

On the peculiar decision to retain one of the toes as a keepsake from the operation, he elaborated: "It didn't hurt and once the deed was done, Phil [the surgeon] showed it to me and I asked him if I could keep it.

"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.

"But if I used vodka instead, that would preserve it beautifully. So I took it home and popped it in some vodka and now it has a permanent home behind the bar in George Hall.

"Whenever anyone comes to the house for a drink, I whip it out and ask them if they want a cocktail or a cocktoe? It's also meant that, over the years, if I've been away from home for any length of time and my wife, Marie, is missing me, she can always suck my toe!"

George, 79, remains heavily involved in the game as a pundit, working at World Seniors events in recent years. He previously worked for the BBC on the BDO World Championship.