LUKE LITTLER loves the fact his face is shown on a popular BBC TV programme – even though he has never seen it himself.
Have I Got News for You first started in 1990 and is the leading weekly quiz show on UK television.
Though it has a different guest host every Friday, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton have been regular members on the panel for three decades, bringing insight and sharp wit to their satirical observations.
For each series, there are different faces in black-and-white on the back wall of famous politicians and celebrities.
For the episodes this year, there are images of King Charles, US President-elect Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and musicians Taylor Swift and Noel Gallagher.
And incredibly, a 17-year-old from Warrington is on there, too, in the shape of Luke Littler.
This follows his incredible run to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship in January and even though he lost to Luke Humphries, he captured the imagination of the nation.
Littler, who only left school last year, laughed: “I’ve not seen the show so I don’t know what it is.
“But for my face to be involved with Prime Ministers and Kings, I will take it in.
“It just goes to show how much I have done this year – and how much the sport has grown.”
Littler showed what he did a year ago was no fluke, winning ten titles in a magnificent breakthrough year, including the Premier League and Grand Slam of Darts.
As the nine-darters have gone in, fame and fortune has followed, his bank account has mushroomed, everybody wants a piece of him and he is recognised wherever he goes.
Heading into the World Championship, which starts on Sunday, Littler is the bookies’ favourite.
If he becomes champion of the world, he would be the youngest person in history.
Over the past few weeks he has used two exhibitions, in Bournemouth and Manchester, as key practice and there are no more flights planned until a trip to Bahrain in January.
Life is now lived out of a suitcase, especially during the 17-week Premier League Road Show, and Littler has thrown darts in 17 countries throughout 2024.
