“Cooking? I know absolutely nothing about it" - Luke Littler and Premier League rivals debate complicated relationship with food

The life of a professional darts player may seem simple to outsiders: throw a few darts, travel a bit, and pick up the odd title. But behind the scenes lies a very different reality.

The calendar is packed, with Pro Tours during the week, European Tours and majors from Friday to Sunday, and exhibition events in between. Add hours of travel, hotel stays, and irregular schedules, and you get a lifestyle that is far from ideal, especially when it comes to nutrition.

A commonly underestimated aspect of life on the darts circuit is how hard it is to eat healthily. Players literally live out of a suitcase and are rarely at home. The kitchen often goes unused. That has consequences, as several top players readily admit.

Jonny Clayton, now an established name and still among the world’s elite, is strikingly honest about his eating habits. “My diet isn’t great,” he says with a laugh to VTM. “If something looks good, I’ll eat it. Maybe that’s not so great. But I’m 51 now. So if I fancy something, I just eat it. I love food, I love kebab.”

Gerwyn Price, one of the most driven players on tour, recognizes the issue too. Yet he has undergone an impressive transformation in recent years. He lost more than fifteen kilos and is trying to be more mindful about nutrition. Strikingly, he sometimes manages that better on the road than at home. “I tend to always go to the same places,” he says. “But when I’m at home, I go to the ‘rubbish cupboard’. Crisps, chocolate... So I’m actually eating healthier when I’m away from home at the moment. Steak, Nando’s…”

Not everyone shares that experience. Stephen Bunting points to a practical issue many players recognize: timing. “It’s really tough at times,” he says. “Because there are tournaments where you’re not done before nine or ten at night. And then many healthy restaurants are already closed.”

For the younger generation, with players like Luke Littler, the temptation is at least as great. “It’s very tempting for us,” he admits. “At those times there’s nothing healthy to eat.”

Still, he tries to compensate at home. “At home you can make up for it a bit, we just eat standard meals. Or we go out and choose something relatively healthy, like chicken with rice.”

Notably, Littler barely sets foot in the kitchen himself. “Cooking? I know absolutely nothing about it,” he says without shame. “I’ve really no idea how to make anything. Maybe some toast, but that’s about it.”

Michael van Gerwen, for years the dominant force on the circuit, acknowledges that healthy living on tour remains a challenge. “On tour it’s tough, I have to admit,” he says. “But it’s very important that you can make up for it at home and also keep moving well.”

For Van Gerwen, the key lies in balance: accept that it won’t be perfect on the road, but make the right choices at home. He is also one of the few who says he can cook. “Especially when the kids are at home,” he explains. “If I’m at home by myself, I prefer to eat out. I can cook. I can do everything myself.”

With a wink he adds: “There’s one thing I don’t do at home, and that’s ironing. Other than that I do everything myself.”

For others, the responsibility clearly lies elsewhere. Gian van Veen largely leaves cooking to his partner. “Cooking? No, I don’t do that,” he says with a laugh. “My girlfriend trained as a chef. That’s ideal, she can cook delicious meals for me.”

Luke Humphries, by contrast, is among the minority who genuinely enjoy cooking. For him, it’s even a way to unwind after hectic weeks on Tour. “When I’m at home, I don’t even think about going out to eat or ordering in,” he says. “If I come home after three or four days and I’ve only got a short break, I actually want to cook tasty, nutritious things that are good for me.”

He doesn’t see cooking merely as a necessity, but as a deliberate choice. “I’m not going to say I’m a great chef who can cook everything, but I do cook at home. I make good pastas, but really anything that’s nutritious for me, my partner, and the kids. I love doing that when I’m at home.”

In a sport where routine and focus are crucial, Humphries seems to have found a way to keep control of his lifestyle.

Josh Rock sits somewhere in between. He can cook, but prefers to rely on his wife. “I can cook myself as well, but she’s better than me,” he admits. “She loves cooking Italian, like spaghetti bolognese, one of my favourite dishes. She enjoys cooking, and I look after the kids while she’s in the kitchen.”

What all these stories have in common is that life on the darts tour is far from ideal for a healthy lifestyle. Long days, late matches, and limited options make it hard to make consistently good choices. Fast food is often not a conscious choice, but a practical solution.

Yet there is growing awareness that nutrition and physical condition are becoming increasingly important in the sport. Where darts used to be associated with beer bellies and unhealthy habits, a clear evolution is visible today. Players like Price and Van Gerwen show that a better lifestyle can also contribute to performance.

The reality, however, remains that perfection is unattainable. Even the most disciplined players have to improvise and make compromises. The difference often lies in what happens away from the tour: at home, in the few days of rest they get.