James Wade was born on April 6th, 1983 in Aldershot, England. He is nicknamed 'The Gladiator' and made his TV debut in 2002. He won the Swiss Open in 2002 and big things were predicted. He struggled to perform to his best in his early television events.

However in 2006 he gave up his day job and concentrated fully on darts. He had 2 nine dart finishes in small tournaments. He then showed his potential on TV by reaching the final of the World Matchplay. He was simply superb on his way to the final where he lost to Phil Taylor.