Luke Littler showed his true colours four times before 'taking step back from darts' claim

Luke Littler has proved he doesn’t take himself too seriously before making what is likely to be a mock retirement statement. The Nuke has swept all before since bursting onto the scene at the 2023/24 World Championship, where he incredibly made the final as a 16-year-old, losing to Luke Humphries.

The following year, he went one better, beating Michael van Gerwen to become the sport’s youngest-ever world champion. He has won a string of other major tournaments over the last 18 months, including the Premier League in 2024 and this year’s World Matchplay.

As well as outstanding ability, Littler is a showman on the stage and joker off it. This week, he raised eyebrows by appearing to announce he was stepping back from darts.

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Looking serious as he took a seat, he said in the 50-second clip: “I’ve had an awesome career, I couldn’t have asked for much better for myself.

“You know it’s been full-on for two years, I've done many great things, the Premier League at the age of 17 on debut, the nine-darters on tele, winning the World Championships at 18, the youngest to ever do it.

“I just want to say thanks to all my fans for the support over the last two years, it's been phenomenal. It'll shock some people that I'm taking a step back, it's not been an easy decision, now I want to do something that I love.”

But all was not as it seemed. As the music faded and he left his darts on the chair, which was draped with his iconic purple shirt, Littler said: “Do you think they'll fall for that?”

From that, it is fair to assume The Nuke won’t be quitting darts anytime soon. The teenager has regularly made light of himself and some of his rivals over the last couple of years. Here are four examples…

Humphries 'slacking' joke

Following his World Championship debut, Littler’s social media following naturally exploded, taking him well beyond any of his rivals. Speaking on the Happy Hour podcast, he said: “I remember going to my first game [at the World Championship] with my manager and he said: ‘How many followers have you got?’ and I went: ‘Only 4,000,’ and he went: ‘If you win this game tonight, guaranteed 50,000, 60,000.’

“Honestly, as soon as I won, 40,000. Then as I got on it was 100,000, 150,000 and then up to 1.2million.” When asked if he was the most followed darts player, he quipped: “By a mile. Luke Humphries is slacking at about 300,000, I think. Maybe not even that.” At present, Littler has almost two million Instagram followers to Humphries’ 300,000.

'Lazy' admission

Littler brazenly admitted he was lazy following a jibe by James Wade about the work ethic of rival players. Wade, who wasn’t having a dig at Littler specifically, said: “I don’t believe anyone is amazing, apart from probably the Lukes, and after that they can be quite lazy. They are not Phil Taylors and not Michael van Gerwens at their best, but they are phenomenal players and there are gaps in the market.”

When made aware of Wade’s remarks, a typically candid Littler admitted: “I didn’t see it at the time but he’s right, I am lazy in the practice room.

“I don’t have to practice for hours and hours. You know yourself as a player when you’ve practised for that long, you are warmed up and ready to go.”

'Cash in hand' win

Following his early exit from the 2024 World Matchplay, Littler topped up his match practice by entering an amateur tournament in Cheshire, which he naturally won to claim the £1,000 top prize (in comparison, he banked £500,000 by becoming world champion).

Littler’s appearance in the low-key tournament prompted friend and rival Chris Dobey, who is part of the same management stable, to joke on social media: “You can’t be skint be skint already lad surely.” Littler responded by quipping about how he was paid: “Cash in hand lad.”

'Looking' for a dart

Littler rarely gets it wrong at the oche with his heavy scoring and prowess on the doubles. But even when he does, he often sees the funny side.

During a Premier League match against Nathan Aspinall in 2024, The Nuke attempted to take out 40, only to miss double tops by a wide margin, hitting the board maker’s name rather than the double 20 segment.

Seeing the funny side, Littler put his hand to his head as if to show he was searching for the dart before eventually nailing tops with his next dart. Despite his recent statement, fans can expect to see Littler back in major tournament action at next month's World Grand Prix in Leicester.