Luke Littler’s dad had blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on popular ITV show just days before darts prodigy became famous

LUKE LITTLER’s dad had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo appearance on a TV antiques show – 23 days before The Nuke became world famous.

It might only be for a few fleeting seconds but Warrington-based Anthony Buckley can be seen sitting in an auction sale as items went under the hammer on Dickinson’s Real Deal.

Luke Littler’s dad made a surprise appearance on an ITV show before the 2023-24 World Championship startedReuters

He had a cameo on Dickinson’s Real Deal

This episode of ITV’s long-running television programme – where antique dealers and experts speak with members of the public about their hidden treasures – was filmed at Aintree racecourse on September 3, 2022.

Veteran broadcaster Dickinson, 83, watches on as sellers aim to get cash offers from dealers for their collectables and antiques – or gamble to make more at auction.

The former taxi driver, sporting thick stubble, watched on from Aintree’s Golden Miller Suite as a collection of amber-coloured beads were sold for £400.

This was double what a dealer had offered the female seller, who put the cash towards fixing her shed.

Episode 28 of Series 18 of the show, which began in 2006, was broadcast on November 27, 2023.

This was the month before Littler, then 16, made his debut at the PDC World Darts Championship at Ally Pally.

Qualifier Littler crushed former Lakeside world champion Christian Kist 3-0 and his average of 106.12 was the highest-ever by a debutant.

That performance on Wednesday December 20, 2023, sent shockwaves across the sport and when he made the final a few weeks later – he was beaten 7-4 by world No.1 Luke Humphries – he had become famous across the globe.

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The show was repeated on TV screens on Monday afternoon and eagle-eyed fans, who have followed Littler’s incredible journey, would have noticed the famous dad in the room.

Elsewhere on the programme, a bargain buy of old watches snapped up at a car boot sale earned a 1,500% profit while one dealer splashed out on an extraordinary portrait.

Littler, of course, has gone on to become the sport’s biggest name, winning the world title aged 17 – the youngest world champion in history – and banking more than £1.5million in prize money.

Buckley has been by his side ever since he started playing darts competitively around the age of 10, ferrying him to and fro tournaments in the UK.

Though Littler dreamt of being a Premier League footballer – “I was a centre-back, no-one was getting past me!” – it was his dad who told him to focus on darts because he was showing so much promise on the oche.