Luke Littler: Darts. Kebabs. Vapes. In that order.

21:30He was a 66-1 outsider, but then he just started cleaning up. He was beating anyone he came up against, and the alley-pally crowd were right behind him, just going crazy for this newcomer. So after his first round win, they serenaded him with chants of, you got school in the morning? Blue, the new, pins the bullseye. He is two from two. It could not have started much better. what a start from Luke 26 darts used

22:08and he finds himself throwing for the opening set and he's fired up as well and he's enjoying the chant he's enjoying the moment and there's going to be plenty of them

22:21Luke Littler:I'm not at the darts he's like geeing the crowd up cupping his ears like they say he's 16 I mean two comments He doesn't look 16, which a lot of people say. He does look a bit older. But also, like, the confidence. How many people are there at Ali Pali? Like, thousands? I couldn't... I should know this, but I don't. Yeah, thousands. And he's there, like, cupping his ears and, like, G-ing up the crowd. Like, that takes quite a lot of confidence. Yeah, and he's such a shy lad as well. But I suppose it's just really motivating. And he must be absolutely, like, thrilled and excited. He would be. And the nation really gets behind his story as well.

22:56Everyone's going crazy for it. There's a huge increase in TV audience for darts. A lot of the media coverage, maybe slightly unfairly, focuses on his poncho for post-match kebabs, as well as the fact that he looks about 30.

23:11Luke Littler:Well, I've tweeted about this before and said everyone's making a big fuss about the fact that Luke Littler is 16, but I've just found out Michael Van Goren's like 32 or something, which is actually more shocking. I think he's like 36. Have you seen the picture of him at 17? Michael Van Gogh here we've got a picture here look yeah see now he looks like he'd have like sort of like a Fort Leap Truff driving licence like he's born with it he looks older at 17 than Littler does yeah yeah it's because his hair is sort of thinning out isn't it he's also making a face that's almost looks like AI like do a young Michael Van Gogh in AI apparently he's very very nice in real life Van Gogh yeah he comes across well yeah unless of course you don't give him his kebab in the kebab shop on a Friday.

23:58Did you see that? No. He got a scrap in a kebab shop. Did he? Somewhere in the Netherlands recently at 2am. It was something to do with the kebab. I can't remember what the detail was. Yeah, like there wasn't enough garlic sauce. Yeah, it was like there wasn't enough meat in the kebab. It was something like quite picky. But then it is annoying. He parties hard, doesn't he, Van Gogh? And you see him in like festivals and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, so good. Anyway, with the increased attention on Luke Littler. There are also obviously some drawbacks to that and soon the grubby tabloids are snooping around his love life.

24:34So they discover that he's got a 21 year old girlfriend who he'd met online playing FIFA on Xbox Live.

24:40Luke Littler:That's Taylor's old time. Yeah, that's beautiful. That's where you met your wife. Are we playing Age of Empires during COVID? Told you I was good. 21 when you're 17, that's baller shit. There was so much stuff about this is wrong. Like, I've never seen so many tweets and Facebook comments about, oh, imagine it the other way around. Sorry, 21, 17. I still think that wouldn't be that weird. I don't think it would be. No, but people love it, don't they? A bit of gossy-wossy. But I do, I remember being 17. If someone had a 21-year-old girlfriend, they were like, so grown up. She was a beautician, wasn't she?

25:18Yeah. I mean, she was also into darts as well. Yeah, and she was there for all of it, wasn't she? Yeah, yeah. I mean when you see his FIFA Ultimate Team pack then who could turn that up it's got shiny Romari

25:32Luke Littler:oh they were talking about the FIFA packs and I thought you might as well be talking to a Victorian child because I don't know what that means barely know what FIFA means what's a pack it's like a team you are kind of like the sticker collections do you remember them yeah it's on the game but you actually get to then have the player in the team that you play with oh right okay so you can get like legends of the game i've never actually played it some people say it's gambling don't they it's like getting kids into gambling because you have to buy the packs then it's a lottery because they were talking about when um luke was walking down to the hockey someone held out some whatever you do and they he unlocked the pack oh really yeah they got luke to unlock the pack like what does that mean what do you like reveals which players they've got in their lottery it's like scratching off a scratch card for someone it's actually pretty class to be fair I actually love that yeah that is that is the ultimate gen z equivalent of like getting someone's autograph get a new game to open my FIFA ultimate playground flex the next day yeah guess who unlocked my pack me trying to describe that to my dad but then you have to be like right on there I always want to I always want to try and get a space right by the walk-ons so I can touch them so I can get them to open my pack yeah this year get them to give the Hobgoblin dollar kiss that'd be great but yeah it's quite difficult to get down there are those because those are the best seats basically well people sort of say that the table seats are the best seats there's more atmosphere but yeah I think that's probably near like you know VIPs and stuff people like Tim Vine who goes to the darts every year does he?

27:09Luke Littler:yeah he loves it loves the darts but you'll be in the VIP when the Hobgoblin deal comes through oh gosh Gosh, you know, if anyone's got any leads for me to get tickets to the darts this year or any year for that matter, seeing as it's going to stay at the Alley Pally now for the next... Did you see that thing came out saying the darts is going to remain there until 2031? And then Saturday. I want to go every single year. So, you know, if anyone's got some freebies, let me know. The Riyadh Open probably had. Yeah. Anyway, back in 2023, Luke's run is continuing. He makes it all the way through to the final against Luke Humphries.

27:43his old rival they come face to face yet again and at this point the media attention on him is insane Barry Hearn the boxing promoter describes it as Littler Mania it was he was everywhere at that point he's on daytime TV he goes to the Emirates and gets mobbed by Arsenal players apparently Declan Rice asked for his autograph got a picture of them Luke Littler does an Instagram story who says just about to go to the room and security says these two want a picture crazy that's pretty cool him, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice. And they're chasing him down. Chasing Luke down. To unlock that pack. Yeah.

28:22So his face is everywhere. He's like the most famous person in the country at this point. And would you say, this is for me, darts' highest watermark since like the 80s heyday that we talked about on our previous darts episode. Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. It's the first time it's got like cut through to just like pop up like everyone. The reason I think that it got so Littler Mania went off is because it's like when Rob Cross came against Philippe O 'Taylor, I think it was the 2018 final and beat him. People look at that and go, that's just a normal bloke. I could do that. So they look at Luke Littler and go, he's 16, I can do that.

28:57And I think that's why normal people get so invested when something like this happens. The everyman.

29:02Luke Littler:The relatable stuff, exactly. Like my mother-in-law watched the littler final and knows who he is and stuff. Whereas she wouldn't know who Rob Cross is, for example. Or probably Phil Taylor, who's the most dominant player of all time. I think it's just because it's, you know, doing a 16-year-old, isn't it? Or there's a 16-year-old doing the, you know, at the Worlds. And they're doing so well. And all people, you know, everyone's like, oh, everyone says he's going to win it. Everyone's going to get to the final and he's going to win it. So, yeah, that's just what sort of captured. 3.7 million people tuned in to watch the final which for Sky which darts is pretty huge yeah it's crazy sadly the fairy tale doesn't have the happiest ending though because Littler loses 7-4 to Luke Humphries he still gets 200 grand though for finishing second which for a 16 year old it's a lot of packs it's not bad it's a lot of FIFA packs it's a lot of FIFA packs and obviously after that everyone's wondering like how is this 16 year old going to spend his money and he's asked that in an interview and replies probably just treat myself to a kebab get myself some bottles of coke bottles of Fanta probably treat myself to some more vapes humble bottles of Fanta even if you buy 10 of them you've still got so much left to spend it's covered about 20 quid there some bottles of Fanta and some blueberry elf bars you know life could be so simple just keep it simple but that's the thing he doesn't actually seem I don't know he bought a really fast car He bought a nice house for his family in Warrington.

30:32Yeah. And he has bought a new car. He has got a car, you're right. And he's got a Beamer, I think. Or cars, Ferraris to me, no idea. But he, yeah, he hasn't spunked it on anything particularly mad, seemingly. No. Some new faves.

30:46Luke Littler:And I think as well, his dad's influence, his dad will probably be telling him to be careful and look after that money for him. Yeah, he's got good people around him. Yeah, definitely. Same football. he does reap some of the rewards of fame we should say so the brands are queuing up to sponsor him after that you know people want to release darts with him it's not exactly David Beckham and Armani though so Iceland come forward announcing that they want to make him the face of frozen donna meat which yeah I can see that I didn't know they did it frozen I think they do anything frozen I mean I love kebabs get a donna quite frequently the old elephant leg in a shop but Frozen didn't know that yeah I can imagine it's fairly easy to do I guess he didn't do that deal didn't he he never became the face of Frozen Dynamite I don't think so it's been a while since I bought any Frozen Dynamite so must remember for Christmas I've seen him advertising something and I can't remember what it is now Xbox he's with is he Boohoo Man as well really is he god isn't there a Boohoo Man curse.

31:57Yeah. Which he hasn't he's sort of broken the curse because he's carried on being successful since then. But I think it was who was it? Grealish was one of them. James Madison? Yeah James Madison. Jack Grealish both signed with Boohoo Man when they were on the up and then it sort of turned. It's gone pretty well for Littler. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was also granted an audience with Sir Alex Ferguson who you know for a Man United fan.

32:19Luke Littler:Oh my God. Albeit one who was six when Fergie retired. You know you're meeting God really. We've got a picture of them there. It's the face of frozen Donna meet. And Luke Littler. Maybe he didn't get quite as much out of the meeting as he'd hoped. He said afterwards, he was asked about it. He said, I didn't get much out of him because of his accent. But he did say, keep going. I didn't really understand him. I did hear him say, stick at it. I love that. Alex Ferguson's talking to him and it's all Greek to me. I literally can't understand what you're saying. Again, no media training because he should have just gone.

32:55Luke Littler:And oh, yeah, it was such an honour to meet him. Yeah, he's just, you know, really gave me support and some really kind words and stuff. But he's just like, yeah, I couldn't understand it. A word he said. Score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to 5 % cash back with Venmo Stash. Got paid back? With the Venmo debit card, you can instantly access your balance and spend on what you want, like game day snacks, gear, tickets and more. The more you do, the more cash back you can earn. Plus, there's no monthly fee or minimum balance. Sign up now at Venmo.com slash college card.

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34:23Luke Littler:it just talks like a normal person. There's no filters. Yeah. Yeah. He's not Luke's only hero. Actually. The other one was Raymond van Barneveld, the great Dutchman who in the noughties was sort of fill the powers foil. And, you know, one of the great stars and, uh, they did play each other, Littler and van Barneveld in that world championship round of 16. And a lot was made about the fact that, oh, he's going up against his old boyhood hero. Um, So you'd think, therefore, that Luke would be pretty delighted when the five-time world champion texted him to congratulate him on a win in March 2024.

34:58Didn't exactly go that way, though. So Van Barneveld raged to the press afterwards. He said, I walked up to him to shake his hand. He took out his earphone for a moment and only said the most necessary things. I sent a text message saying congratulations, and then nothing. I understand you've got thousands of text messages but I'm not just anyone if I've been your inspiration for years I expect a text message back dude's on his phone all day fuck off

35:22Luke Littler:I do think he's got a point yeah but it's Gen Z they don't text back do they yeah yeah that's true they just I don't know that's just not what they do who's probably like what do I say they use like Snapchat and things don't they texts are like for old people that's you know what that's such a good point do you think it was that it's like wrong platform yeah potential go get him on on Snapchat yes Yes, yeah. Game on Xbox Live, yeah. But I do love that dude on his phone all day. You can see him like raging to the other darts players, raging to like Stephen Bunting. Yeah, yeah. It's a bit like when you're texting someone you fancy and they're not really getting back to you and you can see they're online.

36:01Yeah, yeah. So you're like, so what's going on here? Yeah. Like you can see that he's available for text. But yeah, I found that quite hard to understand. Do you think that is just shyness? Like, because he does, in fact, the clip we watched of him earlier where he's really young he's 18 months old he does barney celebration in it when he throws a good throw so he he was his hero genuinely did he but do you think he's just a bit shy about it like he comes up to him you are like an 18 year old bloke and there's this like 50 year old dutch guy who's won a lot yeah but it's that's funny that because it

36:32Luke Littler:is his hero i think maybe it was more his dad's hero because at 18 months old can he understand you know Raymond Van Barneveld yeah but I think he was raised on him he was probably made to watch a lot of videos of him yeah maybe it's that but I do think there really is something in the traditional SMS text message when they're usually on their Whatsapps their TikToks their Instas he should have gone on Insta yeah Barney you dinosaur get on the new platform oh because on the podcast I was listening to he was saying like he has loads of people in his DMs on Insta that's what he should have gone for Barney but then again there's probably so many it's like he might have missed it yeah yeah true yeah i think i he did walk up to him and say congratulations and luke only removed one earphone and said only the most necessary things cheers he's in the zone he's in the zone he's at a tournament yeah he just won it had he i don't know we'll excuse it we love luke yeah um to be fair he also does have a lot going on on his phone so last year it emerged that he dumped his girlfriend by text so he does know how to send text yeah just when it suits him just cutting.

37:35I imagine it was two words. Yeah, yeah. What, dump text? I think he's, at that age, is it still legit to dump someone by text? At 17, yeah. It was a relatively serious relationship, though. She was coming, she came all the way to the World Championships. That's true, exactly.

37:55Luke Littler:She's a grubby Daily Star hack digging through her bins. I think you're allowed to dump by text when you're a teenager. but I don't think I had the opportunity to try that out so don't ask me. I didn't have a phone I don't think when I was 17. MSN, would you dump someone by MSN? MSN. Dump Barney. Yeah, oh God, MSN must you remember that? No, I still think that's quite bad. Do it in person but you know, he's busy. He's a busy guy. He does have the odds defeat, not that it phases him. He's knocked out one tournament and he writes on Facebook I think, he writes Xbox all day it is smiley face yeah because do you remember there's this thing about him that he actually doesn't train that much doesn't really like training he trained a lot when he was younger but now he's like I actually don't like playing too much I just want to play Xbox and relax yeah which kind of makes him more of a likeable genius I think they also play a lot of tournaments yeah they're always travelling around the world but he's got a bit of that Ronnie O'Sullivan thing like much less moody but just of like I don't really want to have to do this all the time yeah it's the funniest job isn't it weird that he's writing on facebook yeah and that's for the duffers so maybe ray raymond yeah that's on facebook darts and facebook i do think is generally quite a good fit definitely yeah we talked about his endorsements earlier from iceland but he's also he's also doing some merch obviously zach you've got his darts around this time he also starts selling his used match shirts for 800 quid i've got a vial of his bathwater as well I guess you frame a match shirt don't you you don't wear it yeah oh that's true yeah it'd be quite cool to turn up to a pub dance tournament you can buy them online yeah the match shirt not the worn ones oh the record oh okay that would be quite nice to have he also because of his love of Xbox I talked about before he pulls out of a tournament in the September of that year I think it's the Hungary Open and people a theory emerges that it's because the new FIFA has just come out and it was a surprise early release.

39:58And so the suggestion is that he bin the tournament just so he could play FIFA. All of this behaviour, you know, we find it quite charming, but it actually concerns the greatest darts player of all time, Phil the Power Taylor, who learns of this and decides to reach out via the press in November 2024. Despite literally no one asking, the 64-year-old Phil tells the press that he wants to move in with Luke to, quote, see how he practices see how he eats see how he exercises see how he does anything see how he does anything sounds like he might have a vial of the bath water I think you don't want to see what a 17 year old does in their bedroom yeah I was going to say it's quite a weird image to imagine of Phil the Power blowing up an airbed on Luke Littler's floor also he lives with his family so his parents are going to come down And then Phil Taylor's just asleep on their futon.

40:55The power. Yeah. He definitely pisses on the bathroom floor, doesn't he? Leaves the seat up. A lot of toothpaste on your taps. Yeah. Kebab boxes on the floor. I think the suggestion he's making is like, he needs to be more professional and I'm the guy to teach him. Because he also said, if he's playing on them Playstations, I would give him a set time. And he says 45 minutes, I think, a day, which is not going to be enough for Luke. no way it's his hobby but yeah so I think the idea is he's going to come and like put parental controls on the computer like make him exercise yeah

41:31Luke Littler:I don't know what exercise Phil was doing but yeah hang on cross training hang on yeah unsurprisingly Luke does not take him up on it doesn't really need him he's smashing everyone and everyone on the tour is quite gracious at this point they love him Martin Lukman who he beats in the Grand Slam of Darts final gives a great post-match interview here. It's absolutely ridiculous. It's just like... He has a boost, a meal deal, a curry. He walks up there and just smashes me like that. I'm like, what? You know, 98 % of the players down there are just doing what they do or whatever. I was just like, oh my dude.

42:13He's actually had a curry, a boost, and a couple of little... What are them little sweets, half pink, half white? Squats. yeah he's eating squashies for his half time I'm having fag I'm having a water I'm like this boy's a joke but yeah no absolutely I'll take my mouth to him he's absolutely awesome

42:31Luke Littler:you can just tell that Luke likes squashies I like his comparison as if he's being like ultra professional he's like I'm there fagging a bottle of water and he's having his bloody sweets and a curry my fags which I need I'm steadying my hand with a few drinks taking it professional. Do love that guy though. That's also charming. Yeah. I feel like a lot of darts players are like that though. Just quite candid and just straight talky in interviews. That's why it's so good. And then, having won the Grand Slam of Darts, Luke is ready for another shot at the biggest prize of them all. The World Championship.

43:11That's right. So in December 2024, he returns to Ali Pali as a certified superstar. He is, He's the biggest star in darts in our lifetimes, really. Ever, maybe? I think so. Maybe the 80s pomp that we did an episode about before. Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow. They were up there. I think he's got more... I wasn't there in the 80s. And to be fair, when we talked about in the episode, I think like 15 million people were watching it, weren't they? Yeah, yeah.

43:37Luke Littler:When there's only like four channels. Yeah. It really was nothing to do. Yeah. And Luke delivers on the hype. So he races through the early rounds, dispatches all the opponents he's up against. And then obviously there's a little break for Christmas where his mum decides to give him an Xbox gift card as his stocking present, despite the fact that he is sponsored by them. Oh, that's sweet. Hard to buy for, I reckon, Luke. Yeah. Vapes. Your mum's not getting you a vape. Bottles of Fanta. Yeah, because he's got really set hobbies, which he's got the Xbox sponsorship already. And then otherwise he just wants quite simple things.

44:15maybe that's easy though it's not just a little bottle of coke do kids still wear like Fanta t-shirts that was fashionable for a bit

44:22Luke Littler:yeah but he only wears Under Armour and I don't think he's sponsored by them he's always got an Under Armour trackie on he's an athlete oh yeah true so after that Christmas break he races on to the final and on the 3rd of January 2025 he's 17 years old and he comprehensively beats the Dutchman Michael van Gogh in to win the PDC World Championship and take home a£1 million prize. Amazing. Wow. Youngest winner ever by like seven years, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 17 years old is crazy. Celebrates by recreating Messi's famous World Cup picture, cradling the trophy in bed. Slightly different vibe, though, to Messi because obviously Luke is 17 and he's got Father Christmas bed sheets.

45:08Oh, oh. That's so good. That's cute. yeah it's very cute don't let his Bart Simpson underwear fool you though because Luke was up all night he goes on BBC radio the next morning saying he was up till 4am so you're probably picturing bathtubs of wine smoking crack with the Rolling Stones wasn't quite like that though he was asked what he was up to and replied checked my phone replied to loads of messages Instagram my friends had four hours sleep mental or so just dms yeah admin he's just doing a bit of admin that is yeah that's the gen z thing isn't it this is the thing i just want to be online just

45:51Luke Littler:chatting to people that's my drug yeah well when the podcast i was listening to with him on today he said um he wants people to not talk to him yeah he just wants to be left alone really when he wins this well this yeah well he just he says something about um they were like oh you don't want people to talk to you what like you know in in the in the street or and he was like everywhere generally but i think he was being a bit flippant with it but i think it was just he just wants to go and play fifa yeah he's an introvert yeah definitely yeah but i think that's you know that's that's his genius it's quite funny saying that on a podcast where they they are talking to you right now it was the jack mate podcast if you listen to it he's very very and i think he just won it was 2024 so we think he just won so yeah they were saying as well as like a precursor to that podcast you know he's quite shy and he's not being media trans or anything so but yeah it's quite a good is he finding the fame a bit overwhelming maybe doesn't seem it no i think he's he is reacting to it like you know he's he's a 17 year old in any situation really you know not very chatty yeah yeah do you think he's gonna come out of his shell in that in the media world a bit because like i was looking back at old interviews of erling harland during when he first came on and his interviews were literally just like you give one word responses to interviews and it was almost like he was trying to psych them out a little bit but also was just super young and yeah i don't know didn't just kind of like couldn't be bothered and now you see erling harland interviews and he's very sort of articulate and has a bit of back and forth with the interviews i wonder if luke will go through the same i think it's more of the wayne rooney vibe though it's It's never as aggy as the Harlem one.

47:32It's more just like a bit shy. Quite sweet. Yeah. We'll see. Yeah. We'll see. I mean, it is mental that we've said he was 17 so much, but he couldn't even buy darts legally over the counter when he won it.

47:44Luke Littler:That's mad. He was also the most Googled athlete of 2024, which is mental. I think that's just the UK. I can't believe that's an America. It's out of Michael Jordan. Yeah. People in India searching Luke Littler net worth. partner. But yeah, he obviously has to start stepping up his security because he's getting mobbed by fans so much. So he hires Thierry Henry's ex-bodyguard. I didn't know that. He's hitting the big time now. We've gone up a notch in the like, celeb stakes. I'm sure I saw him on a chat show with like a Hollywood megastar. You know where they have them all on the sofa? Is it Jonathan Ross?

48:22He's with Ray. Oh yeah, Ray. Rob Beckett. I mean, Millie Bobby Brown is the star of like a huge Netflix. She's strange to things, right? Yeah. he's not really going to know anyone he might know Rob Beckett from League of Their Own and the tabloids obviously are all over him and nothing quite sums up their obsession with him like this headline they did first place Luke Littler's dad spotted picking up fish and chips on son's 18th birthday as darts world champion streams video games

48:51Luke Littler:noted that it's play spelt P-L-A-I-C-E lovely little touch that is not a story that story is boy plays xbox and dad gets fish and chips yeah i think it's one thing i would say is the fact that he's having fish and chips on his birthday again it's like some people who've just made a million quid would be yeah in china white yeah no boo but he's not they're not he's not even going to like dubai on holiday it's just like i want to have fish and chips and play xbox work on my ultimate team do you know what he said his favorite food was on this podcast not kebabs hunter's chicken which really made me laugh that's the spoons chicken isn't it yeah it's the chicken that's covered in...

49:30It's a breaded one. Yeah.

49:31Luke Littler:No, no, it's like barbecue and cheese. Barbecue and cheese on top. It's spoons, classic, isn't it? Oh, God, I don't think they do Hunter's Chicken anymore. I used to have it all the time. That's a fucking crayon. What a show. Hunter's Chicken. Hunter's Chicken. Like, it makes me think of Chicken Chasse in the 90s. Yeah, it also makes me think a bit like if you go around to a boy's house and they're cooking, you might get the chicken wrapped in bacon one. What's that one called? Yeah, yeah. With like Philadelphia in it or something. Yeah, oh, what is that? Hunter's Chicken Chasse. you that uh you're probably wondering ruth about the groupies because he's 18 now so we can talk about that uh luke said i have had a few requests from girls to meet up i generally don't reply it's just people looking at me and the money i'm making and they want a part of that my mom and dad told me to keep the friends i have give it a few years and i might meet someone along the way he's got his head screwed on so level-headed yeah oh that's that wouldn't be my approach i'd just like I'd say if I was in his position.

50:27Yeah.

50:27Luke Littler:I think, no, he's, as we were saying, he's got the right people around him. If he was hanging about with people like, I don't know, Callum Best. Yeah. Is he the one? Callum Best. Yeah. George Best's son, yeah. The Lothario. You know, if he's down the Groucho Club, things could have been, if he wasn't born in Warrington, things could have been so different. But he's right, because that Callum Best life, I think, looks very hollow. Yes. You know, Luke's set on a good path here. Yeah. But I think I would just let people explore this. He knows what he likes and he likes what he knows. Yeah. Exactly.

50:53amazing yeah Hunter's Chicken uh him and Laminia Mao are just they're probably about the same age aren't they yeah very different cards yeah yeah but I mean I'd love to see the two of them having you hang out yeah yeah playing it online probably but it's hard not to like just let people explore you for being rich I don't think like most people wouldn't mind for a bit you know what I mean

51:16Luke Littler:he seems to be into the um the long-term relationships doesn't he because he's just settled down, doesn't it? Quite quickly, you got another JF. She's coming up actually, but not all the attention is from girls. Turns out divorced dads are quite into him as well. We're looking at a mural in the window of a house, which has been done with snow spray, you know, like canned snowy spray. It's Luke's face holding up his darts just across all the window panes. Ground floor. That's absolutely amazing. The caption is, how's your dad taking the divorce? That's beautiful. And it's really well done. I mean, you can tell it's not like one of those airbrush waltzers pictures of Elvis.

51:56Luke Littler:You know, it looks like Luke. You've got to make the stencil and then spray it on. It's a lot of work, I reckon. Incredible. Unless it's freehand, in which case that person is seriously talented. However, this new rock star status that Luke's acquired is starting to grate on his previously quite gracious fellow pros. particularly when eight of them are called for a photo shoot at Belfast's Titanic Experience. I think Northern Irish Open was the event so this was a perfect setting to do a nice picture of the eight best players in the world. Among them Luke Humphreys, Michael Van Gogh and Stephen Bunting all the big names and they all arrived promptly for this photo shoot but they were left waiting for hours in the biting frozen wind because Luke overslept.

52:47We've got a picture of them all when he finally arrived. It does look cold. The rest of them look fucked off, don't they? They're in their dance shirts. It's pretty cold. It was midwinter.

52:56Luke Littler:I've never seen that feature. That's a good one. And Luke's also holding the trophy in the middle. Yeah. Turns up late. That's quite rock star. Quite right. Goward Price is doing the Ashley Cole team photo. Not joined on the line. Photoshopped in.

53:13I mean that is quite annoying just up all night playing FIFA probably Michael Van Gogh was really angry he said they need to stop treating him like a baby he's not a baby anymore he's 18 years old now he has to learn Luke replied you know what Michael's like he called me lazy I was just laughing at him

53:34yeah you mentioned Ruth he does get a new girlfriend around this time

53:36Luke Littler:yeah which I think maybe she's the beautician bit of glam Yeah, quite possibly. Maybe it's the new girlfriend that meant he had to shut down TV presenter Jolie Sharp when she had the audacity to compliment him during a live stream he was on. We've got a clip here. On the chair. Hi, I've never met anyone. You okay? But I really think you're great at dance. Do you? Obviously. Yeah, a chair back in it. What did he say? DBI. That's what he said. He said DBI. What did he say? DBI. I said DBI. I said DBI. DBI. DBI. So according to my sources in year 11, DBI means don't beg it. It means like, don't, don't like be desperate for me to like you basically.

54:17Yeah. Chill begging it. Chill begging it. Chill begging it. Yeah. It basically means like, stop being so desperate and calm down. Stop trying to like make me like you.

54:24Luke Littler:Oh, I think that's very unbecoming. It's a burn, isn't it? He also doesn't make eye contact with her at all. Yeah. I think that is an element of teenage boy shock. Yeah. The question is, is that fame to your head or is that teenage boy? I think it's firmly the teenage boy. Absolutely. He's also doing it in front of like angry ginge who will be well on board with that. Yeah, the lads were lapping it up. Oh, yeah. It's quite mean. I mean, I feel if I was that girl, I'd feel really upset by that. All she's saying is like, I think you're amazing. She was begging it. She was begging it.

55:03Yeah. Showing off to the girls in the year above, though, that's just standard teenage fare, isn't it? Not his only milestone, actually, because outside of darts, he spent most of 2025 trying to pass his driving test. Huge milestone for any lad his age. He failed his theory six times.

55:21Luke Littler:Well, that makes me feel better because I failed my theory once and I can't drive. Didn't you fail your practicals as well? I tried driving and I was so bad at it. I started when I started with the driving instructor he was like oh I've just quit smoking and I was like oh great and then one lesson with me started again it's really bad awful yeah I don't think I want my driving instructor to have just quit exactly and he was only 21 he was the luke the nuke of the driving instructor world and he kept getting really stressed about me like damaging his car and I felt like going sorry just just so you know I don't know how to drive yeah that's why you're here if you're stressed about your car getting damaged don't get don't get someone who doesn't know how to drive yeah exactly don't give up smoking yeah yeah yeah so i've never passed anyway still time yeah there is i actually only passed like three four years ago so did you i know but you're way younger i don't think i'm i'm too old for it now but but yeah so that's knowing a genius um a freak of nature like luke failed it six times yeah it's good to know i mean And I do slightly get the impression he just didn't revise for the theory because he then passed the practical first time without any minors.

56:35Luke Littler:What the hell? Although he posted a photo, his driving instructor posted a photo of him by the car and I looked it up. It's an automatic. So you've got an automatic license. Okay. It's fair enough. You know, I should have done that. It's easier. That's what you should do. It's way easier. Yeah. But you know, I mean, he's sort of ahead of the game on, you know, the move towards electric vehicles. They're all going to be automatic. so he's probably concerned about the environment and don't bother with the... He's bought quite a nice car, I think. Right, fair enough. He's got millions in the bank.

57:10He should. He needs some Playboy vices, I think. He's got his 24-carat iPhone.

57:15Luke Littler:Yes, that's true. I saw that. How does that work? The actual iPhone is gold or is it a case? There's metal on an iPhone, isn't there? Like the bottom, the shell. So that's... I think it'll be this bit around the edge. I reckon that's gold. It must be quite heavy. Yeah. Is gold heavy? It's a stupid question, but... I suppose that's kind of... At least he's not spending it on drugs. Yeah, and I don't think he ever will. I don't get that impression. I don't think he will. I was thinking this. I thought, will he go into like a... Because obviously he's not old. He's not 18 yet, is he? No, he is. He is.

57:44Luke Littler:So he's not legally been allowed to drink or anything, but will he have a breakdown in his later years and go off the rails? And I just don't feel like that's... I do think he's going to retire really young. You see a lot of speculation that he will. well I think he just yeah he just wants to play FIFA yeah exactly his true passion yeah just wants to be mean to girls I mean if you if you were a millionaire would you quit and just play Age of Empires oh yeah I'd like to become a millionaire playing it I think you can be paid to play it well we've all got goals and they can be achieved you should have started Age of Empires when you were 18 months old should have get my son on it yeah that's basically what we're up to obviously this is coming out in the middle of the world darts championship look shall i do the record two endings stranger things looks like he's gonna win it can't believe he was knocked out so early yeah yeah so we'll obviously see how how he fares will he go all the way once again but yeah it looks like he's he's gonna be he's he's definitely gonna be one of darts's greatest stars ever if not the question is like as a sort of celeb and sports person fast forward 20 years what's luke littler up to do you think because he'll still he'll still only be like 40 yeah i don't because i was thinking could i see him on strictly come dancing ice skating with the stars in the jungle yeah i just don't think i just don't think he wants any of that i think i think he'll just do darts for 10 years win loads of stuff and then retire and probably just like retreat from pundit i don't think he'd even do punditry?

59:23I think he will. Yeah?

59:24Luke Littler:You think so? I don't know if he wants to do anything. It's so hard to tell because he's just, like you say, how much of it is personality and how much of it is 17-year-old. Keeps his cards close to his chest. Yeah, because all he wants to do now is unlock the FIFA patch and buy. And who can blame him? Who can blame him? Well, we love him. I think we all agree. Not a wrong-un. No. Absolutely not. Ruth, thanks a lot for coming on. Enjoyed that. Thanks so much. I've enjoyed it. Alright, well, come on again, please, Ruth. Doesn't have to be dance. You do. We did Grealish. We did Grealish. But yeah, there will be more.

59:56I know I love it. Thanks so much for having me on. It's been a pleasure. Follow Ruth at Dank underscore at Croyd. Give her a job. Give me a job.

1:00:05Luke Littler:Don't forget to have your Hunter's Chicken tonight. Guys, it's Friday. Okay. Get that back on the menu at Wetherspoons. Which Wood Breweries I want to work for you? Greg's, I'm always open to coming back. Yeah. Hope you've enjoyed it. Yeah, thanks a lot. Thanks, Zach. Thank you. Thank you. Please share this with all your friends who love Hunter's Chicken and darts. And which were breweries. Blueberry Raz Elf Bars. Thanks a lot.

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