Luke Humphries has revealed he ‘never felt like the world number one’ in an emotional post-match interview following defeat by Luke Littler in the Grand Slam of Darts Final.
‘Coolhand’ feels that his reign as the world’s best player was somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of Littler with darts fans disrespecting him as the top player.
Emotional Luke Humphries ‘Never Felt Like World Number One’
Following his 16-11 defeat in the 2025 Grand Slam of Darts Final, an emotional Luke Humphries revealed in his post-match interview that he never really felt he got the recognition he deserved during his reign as the world’s best darts player.
Luke Littler is the most popular darts player in the world and is also now the official best, having overtaken Humphries at the top of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time.
‘The Nuke’ has become just the 14th different world number one in the PDC rankings, and looks like he could stay there for a very long time if he continues to dominate world darts like he is doing right now.
Prior to Littler claiming top spot, Humphries enjoyed 23 months at the peak of the darting summit. This dates back to the 2024 World Darts Championship when ‘Coolhand’ first got his hands on the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy.
Although Humphries claimed top spot 23 months ago, his reign as the world’s best player has been somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of ‘The Nuke’. It was the 2024 World Darts Championship that Littler burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old, despite Humphries lifting the trophy after defeating the teenager in an epic final.
Having topped the world rankings for almost two years, Humphries has revealed that he never really felt he got the respect or recognition for it. Although he was officially top of the PDC Order of Merit for almost two years, the 30-year-old feels his achievement went unnoticed.
Although everyone knows how good a darts player Humphries is, his post-match interview after the Grand Slam of Darts Final on Sunday showed that he feels somewhat disrespected by darts fans.
Feel a bit bad for Humphries after watching his post match interview, saying he never felt like the world number 1 and didn’t get the appreciation he deserved.
We all knew as fans he didn’t get the props he deserved but seeing him actually mention it himself means it obviously…
— DartsAnonymous (@anonymous_darts) November 16, 2025
Luke Humphries Feels Disrespected By Darts Fans
Luke Humphries was the world’s best darts player for the best part of two years, but perhaps never fully got recognised by darts fans as the sport’s leader.
That mantle has belonged to Luke Littler ever since his emergence as a 16-year-old at the 2024 World Darts Championship.
As always, Humphries was humble after his 16-11 Grand Slam of Darts Final defeat to Littler, but did shed some light on his feelings now that he is no longer top of the official PDC Order of Merit.
“He [Littler] deserves to be the world number one, he really does,” Humphries told Sky Sports Darts in his post-match interview.
“I’ve never felt like the world number one. I never really got that attention that I deserved, but you know, I feel like I’ve done myself justice. I’ve really worked hard,” Humphries concluded.
It’s evident that ‘Coolhand’ feels somewhat disrespected by darts fans that he wasn’t as lauded as he perhaps should have been. That being said, he remains one of the best players in the world and looks like the only player remotely near the elite level of Littler right now.
As well as being world number one for 23 months, Humphries inspired some of his fellow pros to make positive changes to their lifestyle. Only recently Josh Rock shared his weight loss journey after feeling he was ‘too fat’, which is something Humphries changed a few years back too.
Although he may no longer be the world’s best darts player on paper, he will remain at the top of the sport for the foreseeable future. He is the nearest player to Littler’s level right now and will be desperate to win back the Sid Waddell Trophy come the New Year at Ally Pally.
