ITV forced into apology after crowd heard singing chant during UK Open Darts final

ITV issued an apology during their coverage of the UK Open final between Luke Littler and James Wade after an explicit chant was picked up by microphones at the Butlin's Minehead Resort.

Littler defended his UK Open title on Sunday night, beating three-time winner James Wade 11-7 in the final.

The 19-year-old, who is the first back-to-back UK Open winner since Michael van Gerwen in 2016, recorded victories over Damon Heta, Kevin Doets, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert and Josh Rock on his way to the final.

It was another impressive display from the teenager, who has not lost at a premier ranking event since his defeat to James Wade at the European Championship last October.

"A day or two before I travelled down, I saw the last person to go back-to-back here was Michael [van Gerwen] 10 years ago," said Littler after his latest win. "I took it game by game and got the job done."

While getting the job done at an event known as the ‘FA Cup of darts’, ITV were forced to apologise to viewers after a chant was aimed at Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Littler and Wade were taking part in the second session on Sunday when the Butlin's Minehead Resort crowd could be heard singing "Keir Starmer's a w*****".

LITTLER GOES BACK-TO-BACK! ☢️🏆

Luke Littler retains the Ladbrokes UK Open title!

The world number one defeats James Wade for a second straight year to triumph in Minehead!

Live Scores & Streaming 📲 https://t.co/gFQK4rQ2wU#UKOpenDarts | Final pic.twitter.com/xEqJzHpMjQ

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 8, 2026

Luke Littler reacts to UK Open win over James Wade

So far this year, Littler has dominated the darting calendar. Speaking to reporters after his victory at Minehead, the teenager spoke about his ambition to win every major trophy in the coming months.

Asked if he could win everything this year, Littler said: "That’s obviously the main aim. The Premier League (in Cardiff) on Thursday was a massive win, to get myself from seventh up to third.

“Obviously, it’s not been the start that I wanted. But that win meant a lot and to come here to the UK Open and pick up the trophy means a lot."

“There was a lot of close games throughout this tournament and I wasn’t at my best at times," he added. "I missed far too many doubles that I would have liked to hit. But we’ve got the job done and for the first time in 10 years, just like the worlds, someone’s gone back to back.”