Luke Littler expected pub players on Netflix show

Luke Littler said he initially thought the Netflix programme would feature only pub players, yet top women’s darts star Fallon Sherrock claimed the £501,000 prize on the globally streamed ‘Beat Luke Littler’ last month.

The competition pitted the world number one against 24 contestants in a single leg of 501, with the winner set to take home £501,000. The field included low‑level challengers such as an Australian jockey, a bin man and a Nando’s manager, and any player outside the PDC Tour was eligible to enter. This allowed Sherrock – who became the first woman to defeat a man at the PDC World Championship in December 2019 – as well as junior talents Mitchell Lawrie and Zach Griffiths to take part.

"Before I saw the line‑up, I thought it was just pub players," Littler, who is preparing for the Grand Slam of Darts this weekend, told reporters. "Whereas obviously when the line‑up came out, I probably knew just over half of them. Mitchell, Zach Griffiths – I played with him on the Development Tour – obviously Fallon, Katie Sheldon and a lot more. I mean Fallon, she's never had a Tour card, so she went for the qualifiers and she made it through. But then she wasn't guaranteed to play – she went in on a vote."

Sherrock, an MBE recipient for services to darts, secured her place after an audition and a public vote, then faced Littler at Manchester Central. Littler defeated 14 opponents before losing to Sherrock, who threw first and finished the leg in 15 darts.

"It was a very good night overall," Littler added. "I think from my side it was very good. From Netflix's side, it was very good. I think the whole thing was probably a learning curve. For me, constantly playing back‑to‑back, especially in the heat, I was going off and on stage. I'm up for another one and I'm sure Netflix will be as well. There aren't many people who could say they've got their own show, and I've had my own show on Netflix, which is just still bonkers to me."