Luke Littler’s romance with age-gap ex, ‘brutal’ textual content, trolls and thriller ‘new girlfriend’

Luke’s personal life has proven to be a little more grounded in real life, with breakup texts, age gaps and all the kinds of things you’d expect from a teenage lad who love’s a bit of Xbox

Luke Littler has stolen the hearts of the nation with his exploits at the oche – and he’s been stealing them away from it too. The Nuke’s fame has risen at an astonishing rate since his rookie run in the PDC World Championship last year – and now the lad from Runcorn is back in the final for another run taking on Michael van Gerwen in tonight’s final (January 3).

He’s been cold as ice in the tournament so far, overcoming fan favourite Stephen Bunting with a brutal 170 check out via the bull last night (January 2) in the semi finals. But despite this fairytale, Luke’s personal life has proven to be a little more grounded in real life, with breakup texts, age gaps and the kinds of things you’d expect from a teenage lad.

When Luke burst onto the scene last year age 16, he did so alongside then-girlfriend Eloise Milburn, but things didn’t last between the couple. Despite her being in Ally Pally to cheer him on every step of the way last year, eyebrows were raised over the age gap between the arrowsman and his beauty consultant beau. Eloise was 21 at the time, meaning there were five years between the pair, with Luke a child and Eloise an adult.

The gap saw the pair receive horrific abuse online. It was condemned as ‘vile’ by Luke and Eloise, as well as her mother, Amanda. Their months together didn’t last, with Luke reported to have ended things over text, but even after the relationship ended trolls continued to torment Eloise.

The breakup was reported to have been ‘raw’ and took Eloise by surprise, seemingly not softened by the couple having only started dating a few weeks before Luke’s maiden World Champs run. They met during a training programme in Leicester, but after Luke shot to stardom, it is understood they had struggled to make time for one another, leading to his eventual break-up text.

Speaking to the Sun at the time an unnamed source said: “Luke and Eloise have broken up and it is still very raw. He is naturally very upset but they have agreed to stay friends. Luke and Eloise tried hard to make their relationship work but with his darts schedule, he is travelling non-stop and it has become increasingly difficult for them to spend quality time together.”

Eloise, however, was reportedly distraught, with a second source telling the same outlet a day later: “They’d been speaking the night before and then he just messaged her the next day saying it’s over. She’s devastated – she didn’t see it coming. They were getting on fine then he dumped her, completely out of the blue. Of course he dumped her by text – he’s a teenage boy!”

That same source also said they were sure the pair would stay friends, a sentiment that was confirmed when Luke later wrote: “Everyone needs to stop sending hate towards Eloise saying it’s her fault, this and that. I myself split up with Eloise and everyone just needs to give us some time.No need for everyone to message her and give her grief.”

Now it seems the dust has settled on that chapter, with reports now claiming Luke may have accidentally revealed his new sweetheart while playing a game of EA Sports FC. While he was playing, a female voice was picked up on the microphone, which his fellow players quickly called him out on. The Express reported that the microphone picked up on the female saying: “I’m gonna try and get some sleep, because I’m so tired.”

At which point one of his co-players said: “Who the f*** is that? Who’s that Luke? Who’s that Luke? He’s had a rotter there! Luke’s had a rotter.”

Luke could then be heard saying: “f*** sake” before adding: “Your chat is going mad. F*** off. If someone has screen recorded that, it’s in the papers in the morning. Yep, well played. Why’s the volume all the way up, you f****** idiot?”

Whether or not Luke has a new girlfriend remains to be confirmed, but time will tell.

You can watch Luke in the final of the PDC World Championship tonight on Sky Sports.