Luke Littler will not be going easy on the amateur players who will be trying to beat him in next week’s Netflix show.
Twenty hopefuls will have a shot at pocketing £501,000 by winning a one-off leg against the back-to-back world champion.
An Australian jockey and a pair of teenage brothers from Essex were among those who took part in a stringent audition process for the live show of ‘Beat Luke Littler’, which is hosted by Gary Lineker and Richard Osman next Friday.
Littler will have to win 20 successive legs in order to survive, with the game ending if any of the amateurs check-out before him.
The 19-year-old’s reputation is on the line and he is determined to go full throttle.
Asked if he will go easy, he said: “No way. There’s half a million quid up for grabs, I won’t be going easy at all.
“I’ll be wanting to beat everyone who comes up. Maybe the first few legs could be a bit nervy, but once I get going then I don’t think anyone will stop me.
“If I lose one game then I’m done – that’s the only difference. However, if I start off well then it’s going to be very hard for my opponents to get into the game.
“There won’t be too much change in how I prepare. I’ll just do what I do normally – practice, have a little break and then practice again.
“I might be a bit nervous at the start, but as soon as I get going, I’ll be all right.”
Thousands of wannabes travelled from far and wide to enter the audition process, which included needing to check out a 501 leg in 24 shots or less and getting the seal of approval from 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.
But the final decision of who made it through to the live show rests with the producers – which brings an element of the unknown.
“I think that’s the fun part of the show, you don’t know who the 20 are, you don’t know how they are going to play and they only have to have one good leg and I’m done,” Littler added.
“I think they are going to be nervous though because they’re up against me and because the money they could win would be life-changing.
“So I am just going to try and relax and enjoy it and hopefully beat everyone, but if it’s not to be, it’s not to be. I think we’re in for a great night either way.
“I think it’ll bring in a huge audience and hopefully more people will get into darts because of the show. I think it’s going to do really well and I’m just really looking forward to getting started.”
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