Chris Wakelin believes the critics should give Luca Brecel a break and let the former world champion enjoy his life on and off the table.
Brecel claimed snooker's ultimate prize when he stormed to Crucible glory in 2023 but has largely struggled for results since and tumbled down the rankings.
The 29-year-old is no stranger to partying when he's not in competition, and has recently been training for an Ironman event.
That has led some pundits, including Stephen Hendry, to question Brecel's commitment to the sport.
But Wakelin, who plays Brecel at the Masters on Wednesday, has leapt to the defence of the Belgian star.
"Who are we? Who is anybody, professional or otherwise, to criticise what he's achieved?" Wakelin said. "I think just let him carry on as he is, he's obviously enjoying life.
"We've got a limited amount of time on this planet, however he wants to spend it, good luck to him.
"The fact he's living such a carefree and good life and being world champion at some point along the line, who are we to criticise him, fair play to him."
Wakelin will be making his Masters debut at Alexandra Palace, having seen his form improve dramatically in recent seasons.
The 32-year-old Englishman is clearly well aware of how much of a threat Brecel can be at his best, but says he'll be focusing on his own game.
"We all know what Luca is capable of. He can go missing for a year, two years and then win two or three tournaments on the trot," Wakelin said.
"Obviously he lifted the biggest one of all, which is a huge achievement and something I can only aspire to later on in my career.
"It would be great to see Luca back to his best because he's a great ambassador for our sport. He's had some really tough results over the last year or so. We've all had those spells in our careers.
"He goes missing a lot as well does Luca, I think he'll be the first to admit that. He can be incredibly dangerous but he has periods in his career where things don't go to plan for whatever reason, and I'm sure that's something he's trying to address himself.
"I'm not worried about what Luca Brecel is capable of. I know what I've got in the tank and we'll be going out there and showcasing why I've earned my place in this tournament.
"As much as it sounds harsh, I'd love to go out there at Ally Pally and put another victory in against Luca."
'Win has been coming for a little while'
Wakelin struggled to make deep tournament runs during his first decade as a professional, but has turned his career round in highly impressive fashion.
He won the Shoot Out in January 2023, and followed that up by reaching two more ranking event finals, at the Northern Ireland Open in October 2023 and the International Championship in China two months ago.
And world No.15 Wakelin admits that sometimes he finds it hard to believe how far he's come in such a short period of time.
"Compared to where I was two years ago I'm a totally different person," he said. "There are some days still when I don't recognise myself in the mirror.
"I think that stems from 10 years of being on tour and not getting the results that I know I was capable of and not being quite good enough to get to the top 16 level and not believing that I'd ever actually achieve that level.
"I think those two factors were the reason I was holding myself back. I feel like a totally different person now. I've got the best people around me. That's precisely why things are going so well.
"I've got people around me who give me all the attributes that I need to succeed and be in the best place possible. They're not coaches or professional sportspeople. But they want the best for me and they allow me to do the best that I can.
"They trust that I know what I'm doing. None of them give me advice or try and steer me in a certain path. I've just got the freedom now when I'm playing. All the decisions I make, I live and die by those decisions.
"When I come off the table, there's no discussion about certain shots that I went for or balls that I missed, there's no discussions about that at all. If you won, well done, if you didn't we'll win the next tournament instead. All we focus on is the next match.
"I feel like a tournament win has been coming for a little while. I've lost in a couple of finals these past two seasons. At no point since those finals have I thought, what might have been. There's been absolutely no dwelling on what's happened.
"Whether I win the tournament, or don't win a match for the next six months, it's not going to affect how I think about the game. I feel like that's one of my strongest attributes now."
Wakelin said earlier this season that he had started working with a new coach, but would not be revealing their identity. And he has confirmed that is very much still the case.
"It's difficult enough to find the edge in this sport," he said. "I think if you find your magic potion I don't want everyone else on tour to be trying it as well.
"I really want to keep this to myself. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and I'll let everyone else worry about what's coming."
Celebrations over, now time to shine
Wakelin is relishing the prospect of playing in front of the usual raucous north London crowds, as the Masters celebrates its 50th birthday.
He has experienced that atmosphere before, having been to the Masters to watch the action. And one anecdote he shares about being at Alexandra Palace says everything about the transformation in his career.
"I went down a few years ago to watch the tournament," Wakelin explains. "My old manager and I were walking round the front of the Ally Pally, he put his arm round me and said, 'I bet you'd love to be back here in a few years' time', and he gave me the look.
"I said, 'yeah, I'd love to come back and watch the darts'. I was totally oblivious to the fact he was saying, if you improve and climb the rankings, you could be back here playing yourself. I was totally oblivious to that, which is testament to where my mindset was back then and where it is now.
"There's going to be a lot of commotion in the crowd this next week, there always is. To be out there and putting a show on for them all, I'm really looking forward to the opportunity."
There's no doubt that making the field at the Masters is a landmark career moment for Wakelin.
But he's keen to stress that while he's delighted to be there, his focus now is on lifting the trophy.
"We found out I had qualified for the Masters when we were up in York at the UK Championship. We were jumping up and down and running round the room," Wakelin added.
"It's amazing to get into it and I've had a good few weeks to process that. It's not a case of we're in the Masters and that's it.
"We're going there to win the tournament. There's a trophy and a place in history to be won."
- Find out why snooker betting expert James Cooper is backing Wakelin to overcome Brecel in his first-round preview.
