Sherrock defeats Luke Littler on Netflix show to claim £501,000
Fallon Sherrock beat reigning world champion Luke Littler in a one-leg face-off at Manchester Central on Friday to win the £501,000 top prize on the Netflix show Beat Luke Littler.
The event was broadcast live globally on Netflix and pitted a series of amateur challengers against world number one Littler; players could not be members of the PDC Tour, which allowed Sherrock to enter. There were 25,000 applicants for the competition, with a first stage requiring players to get down from 501 in 24 darts or less, followed by a three-person interview panel that included Phil Taylor, PDC president Barry Hearn and darts television pundit Laura Turner. Twenty players were due to take part: 16 were selected outright and the remaining eight, described as the most experienced, were paired off with Netflix viewers voting to choose who would compete. Sherrock won the viewer vote against Germany's Jarod Becker with 75% of the votes.
Littler had defeated 14 amateurs on his way to the deciding match, including opponents as young as 14, before facing Sherrock in match 15. Sherrock was closest to the bull and started first; she hit a 180 — only the third maximum of the night — then took out double 20 to complete a 15-dart leg and secure the £501,000 prize. With Littler on stage for more than two hours, his standard dropped and Sherrock prevailed in the single-leg contest.
After the win Sherrock, whose son Rory was among the crowd, said: "It's insane, I can't put it into words of what it means, especially having Rory here - it's his first time at anything and he has seen me win. "It's a great moment and I will memorise this forever. Give me an opportunity and I will take it every time. I'm really proud of myself, I rise to the occasion." Sherrock had previously won £25,000 for reaching the third round of the PDC World Championship in December 2019 and was the first female player to beat a male opponent at that event on her way to the last 32; she has won 21 times on the Women's PDC Series and was awarded an MBE in 2023.
Nineteen-year-old Littler, who has won the PDC World Championship in both the past two events, praised Sherrock after the match, saying: "Brilliant, that's what one person had to do - win the bull and go out in 15 [darts] and that's what she did, world class." Earlier in the evening Littler produced a 180 followed by a 158 checkout, the highest of the night, to defeat 14-year-old Jayden Walker in 12 darts, and he recorded convincing wins against other early challengers such as 16-year-old Kasey Smith.
The field of challengers included a wide mix of entrants: Taylon Forrester, who described himself as a "binman who works with his dad"; Zac Spain, a jockey from Melbourne; Theodore Wallich, who called himself the 'Moustache Kid'; 57-year-old Mark Pooke; 14-year-old Makinley Cooper-Johnson; and Will Kemp, who returned after a recent health scare. Former England footballer Gary Lineker hosted the event, with comedian Lee Mack and television presenter Richard Osman joining Laura Turner in the punditry team, and John McDonald announced the players.
Ireland's 'Fierce' Pearse Mackle, a 21-year-old university student from County Cavan who competes on the PDC's Development Tour, was the only other challenger besides Sherrock to seriously trouble Littler; Mackle missed a match-winning bullseye, finding the nine. Sherrock's victory immediately ended the event, meaning the five remaining amateurs were unable to get their shot at the £501,000 prize.
Littler had said he would donate the £501,000 to charity, and Barry Hearn reappeared to present Sherrock with a huge cheque for her life-changing victory to bring the Beat Luke Littler event to a close.