Luke Littler has never been short of critics willing to line up and tell him what he’s doing wrong. One of darts’ most respected former champions has been among the most outspoken — and his complaints have gone far beyond what happens on the oche.
Dennis Priestley, the two-time world champion nicknamed ‘The Menace’, has made no secret of his concerns about the way Littler conducts himself as a professional — and earlier in 2025, he made a pointed call for the sport’s biggest star to face financial consequences for his behaviour off the stage.
The Incident: Late to the Photoshoot
The flashpoint came during the 2025 Premier League media day, when Littler turned up late to an official photoshoot. It was not a minor inconvenience — with seven other players, staff, and media all waiting, the delay caused genuine frustration behind the scenes.
Nobody made their feelings clearer than Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman fumed: “He was 45 minutes late. They need to stop treating him as a baby, yeah? He’s not a baby any more. He’s 18 years old now. He has to learn, but he needs to learn the hard way. It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions as well, simple as that.”
Littler shrugged it off. He admitted he had received a telling off from Van Gerwen, but he was not inclined to make a big deal of it. That relaxed attitude, however, was precisely what Priestley took issue with.
Priestley’s Verdict: A Fine Was Warranted
“Luke Littler should’ve been fined for turning up late and that would be the right thing to do — it’s a learning experience for him, the fine should be automatic,” Priestley said.
The former champion was not dismissing Littler’s talent or looking to make an enemy of the teenager. His concern was about standards — and about consistency. “If you are late to your own event, that is one thing. But when there are seven other players as well as staff and media there that have all made the effort, it isn’t good enough no matter what your age is.”
Priestley also made clear he believed Van Gerwen was entirely justified in his reaction. “Michael van Gerwen is right to complain. I just hope he took Littler to one side and did things properly and calmly as well as speaking to the media.”
And crucially, Priestley argued that Littler’s star status should offer him no protection from the same rules everyone else operates under. “If it was someone like Gerwyn Price, you think he may have been given a fine — and it should be no different for Littler.”
A Broader Pattern of Concern
It was not the only time Priestley had publicly taken issue with Littler’s conduct or situation. When England crashed out of the 2025 World Cup of Darts at the hands of Germany, with reports emerging that Littler and Luke Humphries had neither practised together nor sat together during the tournament, Priestley again spoke out.
“Luke Littler and Luke Humphries let their country down at the World Cup of Darts,” he said. “When I was playing in pairs with Phil Taylor, we practised together and sat together, we played all over the world and I only remember us getting beaten once.”
He then went further, questioning whether the MBEs the pair had just been awarded were premature. “To be brutally honest, I don’t think either Luke Littler or Luke Humphries have done enough to earn their MBEs just yet,” he said — an assessment that landed like a dart in a quiet room.
Littler’s Response: Typically Unfiltered
Littler read the comments about the MBE and had no intention of letting them pass without reply. He took to his Instagram story and posted: “Don’t deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did… that’s what I would say anyway.”
Short, sharp, and — depending on your perspective — either brilliantly confident or breathtakingly blunt. Priestley had won two world titles across two decades; Littler had won two world titles before turning 19. He was not going to apologise for that.
What the back-and-forth between Priestley and Littler really illustrates is a tension as old as sport itself — the elder statesman who came up through a different era of professionalism, and the young superstar who operates by his own rules because, so far, those rules have produced results nobody can argue with. Priestley’s criticisms are not born of malice; they come from a genuine belief in standards and accountability. But Littler, for now, answers those criticisms the only way he knows how — by winning.
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