LUKE LITTLER planted a kiss on new girlfriend Faith as the darts star continued his quest to become the youngest ever Triple Crown holder.
The world champion, 18, reached his first ever Winter Gardens semi-final after beating Andrew Gilding 16-14 in Blackpool on Friday night.
Luke Littler planted a kiss on new girlfriend Faith in Blackpool
As the packed arena roared, and the tension built for his crucial clash, the camera panned to Littler making his grand entrance.
And his partner Faith Millar, 19, looked every inch the proud girlfriend.
Just before stepping on to the oche, Littler leaned in and gave Faith a tender smooch right there in front of thousands of screaming fans and millions watching live on TV.
It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of affection that immediately sent social media into a frenzy, with fans cooing over the couple’s cute display.
And the kiss brought Littler good luck in the end, as he narrowly beat world No.28 Gilding.
Littler appeared to be cruising at 14-9 but Goldfinger found his range with three legs on the bounce to make it a tight finale.
Gilding, 54, went close, going within one leg of Littler, before the darts prodigy hit a perfect 11-darter to win it.
Littler hit a Matchplay quarter-final record of EIGHTEEEN 180s, with an average of 103 as he booked a place in the semi-final against either Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock.
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Littler said: “That last leg I just had to stay focused and get over the line.
“He won a few on the bounce when I was sat on 15 legs but I just had to do a professional job in the end.
“I didn’t really panic. Andrew started to win a few legs, but that last leg against the darts as well, I just had to get over the line.
“Andrews does what he does. He never goes out of rhythm. It’s the same throw by throw and try and match him.”
Littler and girlfriend Faith were first pictured together in March.
The 19-year-old is a beautician who met Littler in February.
The couple jetted off with Littler’s family to Spain last month.
Littler previously dated Eloise Milburn, who cheered him on at his World Darts Championship debut in 2023.
But the pair split after just ten months in July 2024 after struggling to make time for each other.
Littler and Faith first stepped out together in March
The World No2 picked up a Premier League title back in 2024 and followed it up by becoming the youngest ever world champion in January.
‘The Nuke’ now needs to win the iconic major at the Winter Gardens to add his name to another list of icons.
Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, and most recently Luke Humphries are the only four players to have completed the prestigious feat.
Taylor, 16-times world champion, is still the only player to have completed the ‘Triple Crown’ in a singular darting season.
He will now face Josh Rock in Saturday’s semi-final after he beat Gerwyn Price 16-11 in the night’s second quarter.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
1994 – Dennis Priestley
1995 – Phil Taylor
1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
2003 – John Part
2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
2008 – John Part (2)
2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
2011 – Adrian Lewis
2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Gary Anderson
2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 – Rob Cross
2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 – Peter Wright
2021 – Gerwyn Price
2022 – Peter Wright (2)
2023 – Michael Smith
2024 – Luke Humphries
2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
14 – Phil Taylor
3 – Michael van Gerwen
2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
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