Emma Paton will take her place yet again as the face of Sky Sports’ darts coverage this month
The PDC World Darts Championship is back once again.
The 2025/26 instalment of the yearly tournament kicks off on Thursday, with a revamped line-up of 128 players vying for the record £1million winner’s prize. Reigning champion Luke Littler will be aiming to maintain his stranglehold on the sport and add to an already impressive season in which the 18-year-old has bagged five PDC premier event titles.
Throughout the action, which will extend into the new year, darts enthusiasts will recognise Sky Sports presenter Emma Paton, who has become the face of darts coverage on the network.
Having been with Sky Sports since 2012, Paton’s passion for sport dates back to her youth when she was an aspiring athlete during her university years. A Loughborough University graduate, the 30-year-old used to run the 400m and trained alongside former Commonwealth Games heptathlon champion Kelly Sotherton.
Watch the World Darts Championship on Sky Sports
The PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on December 11 and fans can watch every match exclusively live with Sky’s Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle.
Paton’s work ethic and discipline have seen her transition from her athletic days to becoming a mainstay of Sky Sports coverage. However, she’s not afraid to show her playful side, as demonstrated in spectacular fashion before last year’s World Championships when she agreed to ‘marry’ a fan.
While photos of the presenter in a wedding dress were shared online, any talk of impending nuptials turned out to be false and actually part of a TV skit filmed for Paddy Power. The betting company sponsored the Ally Pally showcase event, and Paton serves as a brand ambassador.
The advertisement depicts a darts enthusiast enjoying Sunday roast with his wife and mother-in-law whilst recounting the memorable evening he experienced at Ally Pally the previous night.
Whilst downplaying his role in any boozy shenanigans, Paton burst through the door wearing a wedding gown and clutching a bouquet, before informing the gobsmacked family that the supporter had proposed to her on Saturday.
In a genuine TV twist, it emerges that he brandished a placard reading ‘Emma, will u marry me?’ which the darts host responded to with ‘Yes, I do’ after spotting it amongst the crowd of spectators.
Despite securing the affirmative response from Paton, the fan then suggested introducing her to one of his friends instead. Paton wasn’t best pleased with this backup proposal and marched off, with the advertisement’s final message urging supporters to “think before they write this Christmas.”
Regarding Paton’s actual romantic life, little is publicly known. She’s been persistently linked to a man called Hannibal. The couple had previously shared on social media that they’d purchased a home together.
Though there haven’t been public updates about their romance for several years, they continue to follow one another on Instagram, yet it remains unclear whether they’re still an item.