Luke Littler has become the first player to win a staggering £1 million prize at the PDC World Darts Championship and he’s already made his first purchase with the big money
19:00, 04 Jan 2026Updated 19:05, 04 Jan 2026
Luke Littler of England kisses the Sid Waddell trophy(Image: Getty Images)
Luke Littler splashed out his first World Championship winnings on a whopping £150 pizza feast. The Nuke stormed to his second title with a dominant performance against Gian van Veen, successfully defending his crown in spectacular fashion.
Along with lifting the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy, Littler made history as the first player ever to pocket the eye-watering £1 million top prize. The teenage sensation had skipped a meal before arriving at the venue on Saturday and had to order a margherita pizza to fuel up before demolishing van Veen.
After sealing the win and dragging himself back to his London accommodation utterly exhausted, the first thing he did with his newly-earned fortune was order more Italian takeaway, reports the Daily Record.
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Littler said: “I’m very tired. It was a bit busy in the household and I think everyone was a bit excited. My phone was popping off, but yeah, we just chilled out.
“I think we got like 150 quid’s worth of pizzas in for everyone. We all had a bite to eat. I managed to get about four hours of sleep.”
Since joining the PDC circuit two years ago, Littler has raked in nearly £3 million and plans to splash some more cash when he jets off to the Middle East next week. He explained: “It’s a lot of money. No idea what I’m going to do yet.
“I said yesterday, I can’t buy a new car yet. I’ll have to get a year on the insurance before changing that one. But yeah, maybe after Bahrain and the Saudi Arabia Masters for the World Series, I’m going to Dubai for three or four nights. So I’ll treat myself in Dubai.
“Ever since coming into the tournament, everyone’s talked about the prize money. But for myself, just going back-to-back, it was a decade ago since Gary [Anderson] done it. All eyes were on me. I was in good form coming into the tournament and that’s why when I went back-to-back.”
Littler might be taking a moment to enjoy his success, but his ambition is clear. Straight after his final victory, he mentioned his aim to match Phil Taylor’s impressive 16 World title wins, and there’s another goal inspired by ‘The Power’ on his list.
Luke Littler beat Gian van Veen to win the World Darts Championship(Image: PA)
Littler elaborated: “I’ve got a lot of years left in the sport, that’s all I wanted to do and, now I’m here at the top, I want to stay at the top for as long as possible. When I turned No.1, there was a list of world number ones, “Obviously Phil Taylor was there for thousands and thousands of days, so I want to go on and try and break his record for the most amount of days at World No. 1.
Littler’s second World title wasn’t without its drama, including a notable interaction with the crowd during his last 16 match against Rob Cross, which made headlines. He managed to handle it, just like he handled all his competitors. Speaking about the crowd incident, he said: “I thrived off it.
“It got me pumped up. The main thing was I went on to win, but yeah, I think it was just one of those nights. There’s a few German fans there, so they must have urged the UK fans on to start doing it. But last night, we all came in as one and got the job done.”
When discussing his rivals and whether they might be intimidated by him, he continued: “I think it’s kind of a similar situation as Phil Taylor a few years back. Everyone was beat before they played him, but it’s darts, anything can happen.
“You’re playing for yourself, you’re playing for your sponsors, you’re playing for yourself, you’re playing for X amount of money. But other players, they shouldn’t be scared.
“I could go on stage and play rubbish and they could come and get me. I think it obviously goes to show the confidence I’ve got, playing on all these big stages all year round, knowing that you can win games on the biggest stages of them all, just going back to the same venue and winning again like I did last night.
“Youngsters across the country have been sporting Littler merchandise over the last few years, with his influence on the sport proving extraordinary.
Speaking to Talksport, he said: “Obviously everyone wants to see me win. I’ve got to play my darts, but behind the scenes, just so many people with my tops on, the younger generation coming through.
So many times at Ally Pally, the kids that got the opportunity to go and cheering me on right at the front of the stage, that means a lot as well. “That’s what not many people see. But, yeah, the Luke Littler effect is well and truly still going.”