Michael van Gerwen fuming at Luke Littler after teen star oversleeps and leaves darts rivals waiting in freezing cold
LUKE LITTLER was slammed by Michael van Gerwen for turning up late for a Premier League Darts photo shoot – after he overslept!
The Nuke, 18, was having teenage dreams in the Hilton hotel in Belfast and was not on time for the scheduled shoot outside of the slipway outside the Titanic museum.
According to world No.5 Stephen Bunting, the other seven stars were left feeling “frozen” in low temperatures outside the tourist attraction.
And Van Gerwen stormed off to do an interview instead of waiting around for the defending Premier League champion to show up.
Asked what happened on Wednesday morning before the round of media chats, Littler said: “I fell asleep.
“I was in the city. I was upstairs. Oh, I was 25 minutes late. Michael called me lazy. I was just laughing at him.”
The Dutchman, 35, responded: “Forty-five minutes late, you mean!
“They need to stop treating him as a baby. He’s not a baby anymore, he’s 18-years-old.
“It happens. He has to learn. You have to learn the hard way.
“It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions, simple as that.
“If he turns up late for an interview, I don’t really mind.
“But seven other people were waiting for him, that’s not really nice. But it is what it is.”
The incident brought back memories of Rory McIlroy’s poor time keeping at the 2012 Ryder Cup, which saw the Miracle of Medinah for the European team.
The Northern Irish golfer was gifted an alarm clock by skipper José María Olazabal after almost missing his tee time due to being in the wrong time zone.
Premier League Darts 2025: Dates and venues
Night 1 – The SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday February 6
Night 2 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday February 13
Night 3 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday February 20
Night 4 – Westpoint Exeter – Thursday February 27
Night 5 – The Brighton Centre – Thursday March 6
Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday March 13
Night 7 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday March 20
Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday March 27
Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday April 3
Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday April 10
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday April 17
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 24
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 8
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 15
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 22
Play-Offs – The O2, London – Thursday May 29