I’m a former darts world champion who played with Phil Taylor – I shouldn’t have become close pals with him

pTWO-TIME darts world champion Dennis Priestley says #8216;he shouldn#8217;t have let#8217; Phil Taylor #8216;get that close#8217; to him friendship-wise./p pBack in the day, the pair were close pals #8211; so close they even used to share prize money with each other./p figure id=attachment_23904135 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 970pximg decoding=async src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/phil-taylor-action-dennis-priestly-844219777.jpg?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23904135 width=960 height=617 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditGetty/figcredit/figurePhil Taylor and Dennis Priestley were great mates back in the day[/caption] figure id=attachment_23904168 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 650pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dennis-priestley-england-reacts-throw-5223997.jpg?strip=allamp;w=640 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23904168 width=640 height=960 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditGetty Images - Getty/figcredit/figurePriestley admitted he #8216;shouldn#8217;t have got so close with Taylor#8217;[/caption] pPriestley, 73 and Taylor, 63 a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/13191559/top-ten-darts-players-all-time-taylor-van-gerwen/were rivals during the 1990#8217;s/a but also best buddies./p pThey shared their winnings with each other before the sport#8217;s spectacular boom in the 2000#8217;s./p pPriestley was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/20735601/pdc-darts-schedule-final-start-time-fixtures-results/(now the PDC) titles. /a/p pBut it wasn#8217;t long before a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/othersports/2486471/phil-taylor-dreams-of-a-good-nights-sleep-before-winning-another-world-darts-championship/Taylor took over the top position /awhich he held for the best part of 20 years./p pThe Menace believes he taught the Power a few too many things back in the day./p pa aria-label=He told SafeBettingSites: (opens in a new tab) href=https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/darts/phil-taylor-dennis-priestley-darts-28752756 target=_blank rel=noreferrer noopenerHe told SafeBettingSites:/a #8220;Looking back on the situation, I shouldn#8217;t have let him get that close to me in terms of friendly wise. /p p#8220;I was 10 years senior to him, and I was not a teenager in my 20s./p p#8220;I believe he learnt a lot from me but I should have not let him get too close to me. /p p class=has-text-align-centerstronga href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/betting/21097803/casino-welcome-bonus/ target=_blank aria-label=CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS (opens in a new tab) rel=noreferrer noopenerCASINO SPECIAL #8211; BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS/a/strong/p p#8220;I should have kept him at arm#8217;s length with more distance. Although, it did make me more hungry.#8221;/p pTaylor accumulated a a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/9281768/phil-taylor-loses-leighton-bennett-13-darts-news/mammoth 16 world titles/a #8211; a record Priestley is certain will never be matched./p pHe continued: #8220;Phil and his record will never be overtaken./p p“It is possible, but in my opinion, no one will get near the 16 World Championships and all his other titles./p p“If you are a top player and dominate for a decade, you have done extremely well. /p p#8220;Phil more or less dominated for two decades which was remarkable.”/p figure id=attachment_23904124 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 672pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/phil-taylor-england-celebrates-winning-844219756.jpg?strip=allamp;w=662 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23904124 width=662 height=960 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditGetty/figcredit/figureThe Power and The Menace were great friends[/caption]