Whether he’s discussing his quest for more darting history or his prowess on his games console, Luke Littler’s demeanour barely changes. This interview winds up with a question about what he’s been playing on his Xbox.
“Just career mode on FIFA [now EA Sports FC] and waiting for the new one to come out.” Pressed on whether he’s any good, he replies: “Yeah, I’ll back myself.”
He adopts the same understated confidence to questions about his bid to win every single major in a calendar year, which continues at the World Series Finals in Amsterdam, beginning on Thursday.
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“It would mean absolutely everything,” he says when asked what winning all 10 majors in 2026 would mean to him. “The form I’m in, hopefully, I can take a step closer to completing them all in a year.”
That form has seen the Nuke win the first six major events of 2026, starting with his second world title at Alexandra Palace. The 20-year-old could hang up his arrows tomorrow and still go down as one of the best ever to play the game, but there are more records to smash, more incredible feats to conquer.
A long-term target is Phil Taylor’s tally of 16 world titles. In the short term, it’s the calendar-year clean sweep of majors. Six down, four to go. Littler isn’t just more than halfway there; he’s also cleared the biggest hurdle. On the toughest tournament to win, Littler is clear, and it’s not the World Championship.
“I definitely think the Premier League,” he says with barely any deliberation. “Seventeen weeks, it’s gruelling, you’ve got to be on your game every week. You’ve got to be picking up points every week and you can’t afford many slip-ups. This year, I had a few slip-ups. At the start of the campaign, I was nowhere near my best.”
For all he has won this year, it’s a losing performance that remains fresh in his memory. A week on from the ruckus with Gian van Veen in Manchester, Littler was booed in Brighton as he averaged a paltry 78 against Stephen Bunting. He recalls: “I went to Brighton and averaged 78. It was a really bad performance. It was all about picking myself back up and having that dedication, and I went on to win the trophy.”
Does he find it easy to pick himself up quickly from such a defeat? It’s not as straightforward for him as you might think. While many sports stars are ditching – or at least limiting – their social media usage, Littler remains as wedded to it as most people of his age.
“I wouldn’t say quickly because when I’m scrolling on social media, I don’t like seeing myself losing. It’s not nice to see yourself lose, especially with that average,” he admits.
After conceding to being “knackered” at the end of the Premier League, Littler believes he has hit the sweet spot between fulfilling his sporting responsibilities and enjoying downtime. He took August off and has skipped various European Tour and Players Championship events.
As a result, he feels refreshed ahead of the ‘business end’ of the season, which features a flurry of majors, culminating in the 2027 World Championship. Being the world number one by such a huge margin helps him pick and choose in a way most of his peers can’t afford.
“That’s why I’ve taken time off,” explains Littler, an ambassador for KP Nuts, which has launched a competition for customers to win £20,000 along with other cash prizes and official dartboards.
“My very first year on tour, we were doing quite a lot. Last year, we missed some of it. The position I’m in at the top, £2million ahead of world number two [Luke Humphries], I can have those breaks and skip some competitions.
“I feel, so far so good, I’ve balanced it out. I’m not travelling as much. If there’s a competition coming up and I’m not feeling so good, there’s no need for me to compete in it.”
On what he gets up to during his extra time off, he says: “Different stuff. I’ll go out with friends, go out with Faith [his girlfriend], practice, Xbox. I do a bit of everything. You practice before a tournament, obviously, because you need to put the work in.”
Success or otherwise in Amsterdam will determine whether he keeps up his belated attempt to try and qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, the final major of 2026 and potentially the final leg of a clean sweep.
He is playing catch-up after missing the first 26 floor events of the year before beginning his bid in Leicester last month. There is still time, with the next two Players Championship tournaments taking place in the Netherlands on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“If I hopefully do win the World Series, then Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll be in Den Bosch for the Pro Tours, try and qualify for Minehead. We’ve just got to see what happens in Amsterdam this weekend.”
Wherever he goes or whatever he does, you can be sure Littler will be backing himself.
Luke Littler and KP Nuts have launched ‘Hit the Bullseye’, giving fans the chance to win £20,000, dartboards and daily prizes by scanning the QR code on promotional packs available in pubs and shops now. Visit https://kpnutsfordarts.com/ for more info.