While Sherrock was celebrating, Ireland’s ‘Fierce’ Pearse Mackle, a 21-year-old university student from County Cavan, was left wondering what could have been.
Mackle, who competes on PDC’s Development Tour, was the eighth competitor and failed to hit a match-winning bullseye, instead finding the nine, and his life-changing moment came and went.
He was the only other player, apart from Sherrock, to cause Littler a fright.
For most of the night, Littler cruised through the competition as he went in search of the £501,000, which he had said he would donate to charity.
With former England footballer Gary Lineker hosting and with comedian Lee Mack and television presenter Richard Osman joining Turner as part of the punditry team, this was a night to bring darts to a new audience.
The first challenger was 16-year-old Kasey Smith from Manchester, but Littler showed he was in no mood to mess about, hitting treble 20s against her with his first two darts on his way to an easy win.
Some of Littler’s opponents had never played a competitive game of darts, although everyone was keen to make the most of the experience.
With John McDonald, who retired as the main PDC master of ceremonies after the 2026 World Championship final, announcing the players before their elaborate walk-ons, this was a fun event, although most players came nowhere near beating Littler.
But there were still entertaining moments. Fourteen-year-old Jayden Walker, a year 10 pupil from Dorset, threw off a school blazer and tie to reveal his darts outfit and, as the third-highest ranked player, threatened to cause a huge shock.
But Littler raised his game when he needed to, hitting a maximum 180 followed by a 158 checkout, the highest of the night, to defeat his fellow teenager in only 12 darts.
Taylon Forrester, 18, described himself as a “binman who works with his dad” and he jumped out of a dumpster on his way to the oche.
Other entrants included Zac Spain, a jockey from Melbourne, Australia, Frenchman Theodore Wallich, who dubbed himself the ‘Moustache Kid’, 57-year-old Mark Pooke, another 14-year-old in Makinley Cooper-Johnson and Will Kemp, back playing after a heart attack earlier this year.
But Sherrock, whose participation in the competition had been questioned because of her past achievements in the sport, was the real winner, even if she had been described by Lineker as a “hairdresser from Milton Keynes”.
With Littler on stage for more than two hours, he inevitably tired with his standard dropping and Sherrock was the one to take advantage, winning in a 15-dart leg in match number 15.
Hearn reappeared to present Sherrock with a huge cheque for her life-changing victory to end a surreal night of action.
IT’S officially cosy season and who better to have a girls’ night in with than Cheryl Tweedy?
So it’s fitting that she’s bagged a whopper of a campaign deal with takeaway service Deliveroo.
Cheryl has bagged a lucrative campaign deal with takeaway service DeliverooCredit: GettyShe is also set to return to the small screen as a judge on The Voice UKCredit: Shutterstock
I can reveal the former Girls Aloud singer has netted around £500,000 to front the new ad, which will be unveiled later this month.
A source said: “Deliveroo bigwigs are delighted to have Cheryl on board, she is a dream to work with and has a huge fanbase.”
Despite her sleek physique, Cheryl loves a cheeky takeaway.
She previously said: “I have a really lovely local Thai — I love pad Thai. And coconut rice. My mouth’s watering.
“I also like Chinese food — I think that’s a childhood thing. Ooh, and Indian. I love all the bad stuff. Once a week or once every two weeks I get a takeaway.”
Geordie Cheryl put her childhood Chinese takeaway, Kwok Pao in Newcastle, on the map in 2014, when she was a judge on The X Factor.
She brought Simon Cowell along to pick up some of her favourite dishes, including salt and chilli ribs, when they were filming nearby. I’m hungry now . . .
KAM ON CAM: I’D LOVE TO BE X FACTOR JUDGE
Singer-songwriter Kamille has revealed that she would love to be a judge on The X FactorCredit: SuppliedShe previously worked on the ITV show as a coach and even wrote songs for Little MixCredit: Carver PR
SINGER-SONGWRITER Kamille has revealed that she would love to be a judge on The X Factor.
She has previously worked on the ITV show as a coach. And following Little Mix’s win in 2011, she wrote songs for them including Black Magic and Shout Out To My Ex.
Kamille told me: “I was a coach on the show, so it would be such a full circle moment.
“I’ve always loved it. I love the way you are literally creating a new life for someone, every week.
“Simon Cowell knows how much I want to be a part of it, so we’ll see. I love Simon and everything he does.
“I’m always there to support him. He is such a good friend of mine.”
Meanwhile, Kamille is venturing beyond music with the launch of BBC podcast The Girls Are Talking.
On it, she stars alongside Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan, content creator Tara Thorpe, presenter Issra Wiheba and comedian Sharifa Butterfly.
Kam added: “Girl therapy is the best therapy you can have. “You’re basically getting an unpaid therapist to help people with their problems.
“Every single issue I might have had, they’ve all been through.”
SAM: MY GIGS TOO PRICEY
Sam Fender has hit out at expensive prices being charged to attend his own gigsCredit: Getty
SAM FENDER has hit out at the sharp prices for his OWN tour tickets, insisting that he’s going to change them.
The Geordie singer is off around the country next year for his Proper Massive Stadium Tour, with tickets ranging from £64 to £130, leaving fans disgruntled.
Commenting underneath a post detailing the prices, Sam, left, wrote: “I’m not happy with these prices, they’re getting changed. It got inflated well more than I’d had in mind, it should only be inflated in relation to the cost of putting the show on.
“The standing will not be split as well, I had no idea about it.
“I have no idea how this was normalised in gigs. It’s b*****ks and it won’t be happening on this tour.”
Sam was referring to the fact that, in some venues, there are separate prices for regular standing tickets and “front standing” tickets.
Now that’s a man of the people . . .
IN THE FAMILY RAYE
Raye had a special guest on stage when she performed at The Royal Albert HallCredit: GettyRaye was joined by her songwriter grandad, Michael and they performed her track FieldsCredit: Getty
RAYE may sing “Where Is My Husband?” but at least she found her grandad on a stage in London.
The star performed a show-stopping gig at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday night where she was joined by her songwriter grandad, Michael.
The pair performed their track Fields, from her hit album This Music May Contain Hope.
She arrived at the venue fresh from scooping the prestigious Mercury Prize for the record. Congrats, Raye.
TOOTHFULLY CRUZ
CRUZ BECKHAM has admitted that he used to bite his brothers when he was a kid.
The youngest son of David and Victoria asked fans on TikTok to send him questions when he and his girlfriend Jackie Apostel were stranded with a broken down car.
Fan Sara Dawson asked: “What’s the worst telling off you had as a kid and what was it for?”
Cruz replied: “I used to bite my brothers! My grandma once chased me round the house trying to bite me back as I drew blood through Romeo’s jeans.”
Well, fangs for that, Cruz.
DIAS’S NO DATES FOR 2027
MANCHESTER City fans have been left confused over why hunk Ruben Dias has been axed from the club’s official 2027 calendar.
Maya Jama’s ex is one of the squad’s highest profile members, one of the team captains in fact. So it’s a bizarre move by the club.
Ruben has always featured prominently on the calendar in previous years.
This year he was one of the main stars and was pictured for the month of March.
But next year’s edition has no sign of him.
And that’s sure to come as a blow to the footballing heart-throb, who rightly regards himself as one of the leaders.
At least the calendar will now be a safe stocking-filler for Maya.
The Geordie Shore star was seen cuddling up to property developer Alex Swinney on a romantic boat trip before heading out to dinner.
But eagle-eyed fans noticed her ring finger was hidden, obscured by her sleeve.
COUNTRY music duo The Shires are parting ways after 13 years together.
But Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle hinted there could be a comeback, saying: “Maybe one day we’ll be making music and touring again.”
A longer statement on the split said Crissie will be “taking a break” for family life.
Doja Cat became Doja Bunny for the night when she threw a toy-themed 31st birthday partyCredit: BackGridParis Hilton channelled Britney Spears’ I’m A Slave 4 U era with her Halloween costumeCredit: @BrianZiff
CELEBRITIES in fancy dress is always one of my favourite things – and here we have two doing it in style.
Doja Cat became Doja Bunny for the night when she threw a toy-themed 31st birthday party in Los Angeles on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Paris Hilton channelled Britney Spears’ I’m A Slave 4 U era with her Halloween costume.
The pair have been buddies for decades – and I’d love to see Brit return the favour by dressing up as Paris . . .
Kim Huybrechts will come in as a replacement as the Belgian is the highest-ranked player from the 2026 European Tour rankings who had not qualified.
Huybrechts will face Ryan Searle when the European Championship starts in Dortmund on Thursday, while Gerwyn Price will play Rob Cross and defending champion Gian van Veen will take on Andrew Gilding among the night’s eight matches.
World number one and PDC world champion Luke Littler will start his challenge on Friday with a match against William O’Connor.
The ITV psychological thriller drama boasts a star-studded cast and concluded on Monday evening
Luke Evans heads up the cast of ITV’s The Party. (Image: ITV)
Tensions were high as The Party concluded on Monday evening.
The ITV political thriller is adapted from Elizabeth Day’s bestselling novel and written for the screen by Sarah Solemani, who also stars. Made up of five episodes, The Party also stars Luke Evans as Martin Gilmour, a working-class boy who wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school and forges a lifelong bond with the wealthy, charismatic Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen.
Years on, and married, Martin attends Ben’s lavish birthday party as Ben weighs a run for the Conservative leadership, and fears the attendant publicity could expose secrets from their past, with tragic consequences.
The twisty story moves between the party itself, a police investigation and flashbacks to the pair’s earlier lives. It was revealed that the pair had been involved in a car crash when they were teenagers, which killed Ben’s twin sister.
While Ben was behind the wheel, three times over the limit, Martin took the fall after being coerced by Ben’s father, Lord George Fitzmaurice (Douglas Hodge), resulting in a huge payoff each year. Although this happened decades ago, the tragic event was the catalyst for the shooting, as a journalist revealed she knew the truth and was about to expose Ben after he had shared his plans to run as the next conservative leader.
In the final episode, Martin pulled a gun on Ben as he accused him of ruining his childhood and leaving him broken as an adult. In the end, Ben talked his friend down and took the gun off of him, although after admitting he always loved him, he shot himself in the head.
Ben’s wife, Serena (Lydia Leonard), heard the gunshot and saw Martin holding the gun, which he took from Ben when he fell to the floor. She believed Martin had shot her husband and told the police.
Ben didn’t die, and Martin was arrested before being later released by the police. However, a police detective was adamant that they wanted to investigate the historical car crash further. Martin realised that the time had come to walk away and put some distance between himself and the Fitzmaurice family. After visiting Ben at the hospital, he left and began facing the world with fresh purpose.
As he walked through the park, he saw a male couple with a newborn baby in the park, a smile played around his lips, as though he’d had a glimpse of the happiness that could be his at some point in the future.
Despite the gripping final episode being full of twists and turns, The Party viewers were left questioning the “abrupt” ending and accused the drama of leaving the plot “incomplete”.
Taking to X, one viewer fumed: “Is that it? What a waste of my time… #TheParty”, while a second agreed: “What a waste of 5 nights #theparty.”
A third asked: “#theparty is that it?”, while another chimed in: “What a **** ending. So many unanswered questions and loose ends #TheParty.”
“#TheParty the night went on for weeks and now it’s getting wrapped up quicker than Poirot says no no mon ami !”, joked another
The Party stars Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani play husband and wife in ITV’s gripping new five-part drama
Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani have opened up about playing husband and wife in The Party(Image: ITV / World Productions)
The Party stars Luke Evans and Sarah Solemani have opened up about playing husband and wife in ITV’s gripping new drama.
The pair portray couple Martin Gilmour and Lucy Farni and Luke, who also serves as executive producer, originally conceived the idea of bringing Elizabeth Day’s widely praised novel to the small screen.
Showrunner and actress Sarah was subsequently approached by the team behind The Pembrokeshire Murders, World Productions, to adapt Elizabeth’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name.
Reflecting on his collaboration with Sarah, Luke said: “The wonderful part of this whole project, of course, is that very soon after she’d written a few episodes, she expressed an interest in playing Lucy.
“I thought it was just absolutely perfect. I thought, ‘What a brilliant thing. Now we’ll have the writer on set’.”, reports Wales Online.
“Any changes we want to make, or any conversations we want to have, there won’t be any phones being picked up. We can just literally go, ‘Sarah, what do you think of this?'”.
“That is exactly what happened. It was such a rewarding experience. She’s immensely talented in so many different ways, and it was just wonderful to see her just fill this character, and also to build this on-screen relationship together. I loved every day I was on set with Sarah. It was really special.”
Sarah has since spoken out about her own experience of collaborating with Luke on the project. She revealed: “It was wonderful. I hadn’t worked with him before.
“I was making a show with David E. Kelley, starring Nicole Kidman, and I asked Nicole about him because they had just done Nine Perfect Strangers together.
“I was really blown away by him in that – it was probably the performance that made me think ‘I would love to work with this actor’. And so, I asked Nicole about him, and she said he was not only just a brilliant actor, but he was great fun. That counts for a lot.
“When you’re jumping into bed with someone on a production and spending a lot of time together, it’s important to have a good vibe on set – and he really had that.
“So it was Nicole’s recommendation that made me trust that Luke would be excellent – and he was. He was very grateful for the scripts and really dedicated to making the best story we could.”
The Party continues on Tuesday, October 13 on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm
Welsh actor Luke Evans is currently starring in ITV psychological thriller The Party
Luke Evans is starring in ITV’s The Party(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Hollywood actor Luke Evans admits he was once ‘very isolated’.
The Welsh actor, now 47, has appeared in Hollywood films like Fast & Furious and Beauty And The Beast and TV dramas including The Pembrokeshire Murders. He can currently be seen in the latest ITV thriller The Party.
But the star, who was raised in Aberbargoed in the South Wales Valleys and started out in his career in West End musicals like Avenue Q and Miss Saigon, hasn’t had it easy and has previously spoken out about how he contemplated suicide during his teenage years.
As The Party, based on the novel by Elizabeth Day, unfolds on ITV and ITVX, we examine Luke’s life beyond the cameras.
Feeling ‘very isolated’
Luke has previously discussed reaching a “dark place” during his adolescence when he faced challenges growing up as gay while being part of the Jehovah’s Witness community, reports Wales Online.
In the third instalment of the BBC series, Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend, Luke revealed his experiences of bullying and the clash between his sexuality and faith, which led him to a “dark place” where he considered taking his own life.
“I knew I was different, I didn’t know I was gay,” he explained. “I just knew I was different from the ages of 7, 8, 9, you know, very young.”
He continued: “I also didn’t have anyone outside the religion to be able to confide in or ask what was wrong. I’ve been baptised in the religion and that meant if I chose to be openly gay, I would be cut-off from everyone and everything I knew.”
Luke acknowledged the situation was “very complicated” and “very confusing”. He said: “I felt very, very isolated.”
Alison then asked if he had reached a “dark place”, to which Luke replied with: “Oh god, yeah. My teenage years, when it was clear in my mind who I was, and I was just… I had no-one to talk to. It was a very difficult position, place to be. Yeah, I contemplated suicide for sure.”
Love life
Luke previously dated Spanish model and actor Jon Kortajarena. Jon has fronted advertising campaigns for prestigious brands including Just Cavalli, Versace, Giorgio Armani and Guerlain, and in 2009 Forbes placed him eighth on The World’s 10 Most Successful Male Models list.
Luke is currently in a relationship with entrepreneur Fran Tomas. Speaking previously to People magazine, Luke described his boyfriend, whom he has been with since 2021, as his “best friend”.
“We’re a great team in life. He’s my best friend. He’s the calm, deep waters, and I am the rushing, bubbly water. And between the two of us, we can solve anything,” he told the publication.
What is The Party about?
Elizabeth Day’s bestselling 2017 psychological thriller has been adapted into a five-part series following Martin Gilmour ( Luke Evans ), a scholarship pupil who escaped poverty to enter British high society after befriending the affluent, magnetic Ben Fitzmaurice at boarding school.
The delicate relationship shatters during Ben’s extravagant 40th birthday celebration at his newly acquired grand country manor. The following morning, Martin discovers himself inside a police station facing questioning over a disturbing incident that occurred overnight.
Luke Littler missed out on the chance to hold the senior and youth world titles simultaneously after suffering a surprise semi-final defeat at the World Youth Championship.
The 19-year-old world number one was beaten 6-5 by world number 68 Cam Crabtree, who will face German Jan Schmidt in the final on 29 November.
That match will take place on finals day at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead – an event Littler has also yet to qualify for having skipped the majority of Pro Tour events this season.
He is currently ranked 126th in the Players Championship order of merit and only the top 64 qualify.
Littler has won successive full World Championships and won the youth title as a 16-year-old in 2023, but the semi-final loss to 23-year-old Crabtree was his second successive exit at that stage having lost to Beau Greaves in 2025. He could though enter four more times, with the tournament open to players aged 23 or under at the start of the season.
The loss is the latest in a series of surprise exits for Littler, who was knocked out of the World Grand Prix in the first round by Luke Woodhouse and lost to Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts finals.
Price, who was playing in a fourth Grand Prix final, claimed the first set with a stunning 132 three-dart average.
He raced into a 3-0 lead and Humphries admitted afterwards that avoiding a 6-0 clean sweep was on his mind such was the brutality that Price was producing.
The fourth set saw the momentum swing however. With Price waiting on tops to move to within two sets of victory, Humphries nicked it by taking out a brilliant 105, with what he said “felt like the biggest shot of my career”.
From there his levels started to rise and he claimed the following three sets to lead.
Price rallied in set eight and won three successive legs to force a best-of-three finale, but, after a short break, Humphries found another gear.
Set nine went to a deciding leg, but unlike the previous four sets in the match where that had happened, there was a break of throw, with Humphries finishing in 10 darts.
That left Price dejected and Humphries won three unanswered legs to claim a ninth major PDC title.
“The sport is in such a special place that when you pick these trophies up they mean a lot more,” said Humphries.
“When I was winning, I don’t think there were so many good players. I’m happy to win a couple a year – one a year is great.
“To go on and win like I did is going to be tough. I don’t think I can’t do it, I’m just trying to pick up as many titles as I can.
“I worked incredibly hard, showed a lot of grit and determination. I think these are a lot sweeter than the ones you win with ease.”
World number two Luke Humphries secured his place in the World Grand Prix final with a 5-3 victory over James Wade.
Humphries averaged 96.92 and threw 10 180s as he reached the final for the fourth successive time.
The 31-year-old Englishman will face Welshman Gerwyn Price on Sunday evening in Leicester after he beat Nathan Aspinall in the other semi-final.
“I’ve got to do it again because there’s so many major finals I’ve let slip. Gezzy [Price] is playing well but if I play like that again, it’s going to be a cracking game and I hope it is,” Humphries told Sky Sports.
“To make four Grand Prix finals on the trot is super special. It’s history for myself and I’m proud of that but unless I pick that trophy up, unfortunately that history doesn’t mean anything.”
Humphries, who won this title in 2023 but has lost in the past two finals, took the opening set of the semi-final but Wade produced a brilliant 141 checkout en route to drawing level.
The pair exchanged the next two sets before Humphries took control of the contest to move 4-2 ahead.
Wade refused to go quietly and pulled one back to keep the match alive but Humphries held his nerve in the eighth set to seal victory on double top.
In the other semi-final, Price beat a spirited Aspinall 5-2.
The Welshman took a three-set lead as Aspinall struggled to reproduce the form that had seen him average 105.15 in his quarter-final win over Ryan Joyce.
Aspinall briefly rallied and produced a superb 132 checkout – the highest of the match – to get a set on the board.
The 35-year-old then threatened to turn the match around when he reduced the deficit to one set at 3-2.
However, Price regained his composure and closed out the next two sets without reply to secure his place in the final.
Price said he was “frustrated” by Aspinall’s antics during the match as he interacted with a partisan crowd at the Mattioli Arena.
“I’m glad to come through the game. Nathan was complaining about the crowd, but they were on his side,” Price said.
“He’s performing a little bit on stage. I’m great friends with Nathan, but take it on the chin sometimes when you’re losing.”
