Thousands of amateur darts players arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London today for the first of two open auditions to find the 20 finalists who will take on the two-time defending World Champion, Luke Littler, in Netflix’s upcoming live sports event, Beat Luke Littler.
With contenders travelling from as far afield as Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, and the Falkland Islands, queues at LMA London, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, snaked around the venue as they waited patiently for doors to open at 08:00.
Airing live on Friday 30th October – and hosted by Gary Linker and Richard Osman – Beat Luke Littler is a high-stakes live darts event that pits the everyday player against the world number one: all for a chance to win £501,000.
The groundbreaking live special – produced in partnership with the PDC, the governing body behind professional darts – will see 20 ambitious amateurs from across the nation step up to the oche for the ultimate sporting challenge of beating Luke Littler in a single leg of 501.
The three-stage audition process began by seeing who could complete a single leg of 501 in 24 darts or less. Successful applicants progressed to an interview with the show’s Producers before a final stage assessment with the PDC’s expert judging panel, which included Matchroom Founder Barry Hearn, darts legend Phil “The Power” Taylor, and professional darts player and TV pundit Laura Turner.
Commenting on the day, sixteen-time World Darts Champion, Phil Taylor, said: “It’s been brilliant to see so many people competing here today for this incredible opportunity. The standard has been unbelievable and there is no doubt Luke will have to bring his A-game on the night as the motivation for these players to beat him is huge. Darts has never been more popular but Luke and Netflix are taking things to the next level with this event.”
Commenting on the experience, London hopeful Tommy ‘The Gun’ Morris said: “I left at 3 this morning, and I was fifth in line, so one of the first ones in the door, which was something I was grateful for, it’s been an amazing experience. Luke’s ranked number one, and I’m 110, so I’ve got to beat him somehow.’
