Having just trousered a cheque for £500,000 and a first world title before he has passed his driving test, Luke Littler is unlikely to be overly bothered by the great debate about his weight this week. Who cares how much you weigh when you can reliably check out bullseye-double 10? Indeed, one hopes “The Nuke” is able to fully enjoy the moment after what was, by any reckoning, an absolutely stunning performance on Friday night. There is a reason, though, that Adil Ray’s comments on Good Morning Britain this week, concerning Littler’s “unhealthy” body shape, went viral. And it is more than just pearl-clutching at perceived “fat-shaming” of a 17-year-old. It is an absolutely fascinating subject.

The image of darts has come a long way since the famous Mel Smith-Griff Rhys Jones sketch from Not the Nine O’Clock News when Rowan Atkinson introduced us to the action from the oche. “You join us during the final stages of this truly titanic struggle between Dai ‘Fatbelly’ Gutbucket and the English champion Tommy ‘Even Fatter Belly’ Belcher…” Atkinson intoned at the start of that skit in a Geordie accent clearly modelled on Sid Waddell.

The ensuing leg involved Smith and Rhys-Jones, who clearly had pillows shoved up their shirts, reaching down to a small round table for “double vodkas”, “single pints” and “triple Bacardis” (“Oh that’s a bad throw,” Atkinson laments at a key moment. “A single pint at this stage doesn’t help anyone. He really needs a triple gin with ice and lemon!”) as the two Fatbellies worked their way up a chart measuring their intake of alcohol in milligrams. The chart ran from “Fairly Merry” to “Completely Newscasted”. It was genius. Although sadly, in this day and age, probably ripe for being cancelled.

‘It’s not a pub game any more’

In any case, players these days are increasingly fit and strong, as befits a more professional era. In the 1980s, when that sketch was made, the game was populated by figures such as Jocky “Gumsy” Wilson, who as the nickname implied, had no teeth, needed seven or eight vodkas to steady his nerves and once toppled off stage after a match. These days you have the likes of Gerwyn Price, who would not look out of place in a Mr Universe contest.

Luke Humphries, the world No 1, famously ascribed his win over Littler in last year’s final to the four stone he lost after dramatically altering his lifestyle, replacing crisps and microwave meals for chicken breasts with rice and vegetables. He is a mere waif these days. “It’s not a pub game any more,” Humphries insisted last month. That may be true at a professional level. And the weight-loss clearly worked for Humphries.

But it is fair to say the majority of darts players are still not exactly svelte. Neither Michael van Gerwen nor Littler have what you would describe as an athletic build. And perhaps that is exactly how they want to be. I’m by no means an expert on body mass or balance or “proprioceptive equilibrium”. But there are plenty of experts out there who suggest that a bit of ballast very much helps darts players. Van Gerwen is said to have “elephant legs” as well as as a decent gut. The result being a constant, steady base of support, transferring into the most repeatable pattern.

Which is not to say that you want to get too big. Clearly Andy “The Viking” Fordham, who tipped the scales at more than 30 stone at his heaviest and sadly died of organ failure in 2021 aged just 59, went way too far. But crash diets have also been known to throw players off their game. Phil Taylor, another champion who struggled with his weight, often went on crash diets. Waddell was adamant that one such regime affected his balance, costing Taylor the 2003 world championship. The trick, by all accounts, is to maintain constant proprioceptive equilibrium in the kinetic chain. So there you go.

For now, Littler has bigger fish to fry. At just 17 he should enjoy the fruits of his labours (the £500,000 he won this week comes after a 2024 in which he picked up more than £1million) and try not to get too caught up in the debate. It is not as if he had any issues with concentration as he powered his way to one of the all-time great PDC wins on Friday. As long as he is fit and healthy and playing well, then why should he care? No one said darts players had to have washboard abs. But then that is just Ray’s point. If he carries on eating pizzas and kebabs and playing Xbox, how long will he stay fit and healthy?

“While he’s young, Littler can get away with a lot of unprofessional, bad habits,” former world champion Dennis Priestley told The Sports Daily this week. “He probably can’t see them now because he’s still a kid. He should look at Luke Humphries’ transformation and shed some weight. To keep on the treadmill of darts, he may have to go on a treadmill of his own.’” Food for thought.