"Gian van Veen’s got some weird Dutch song" – Nathan Aspinall fears iconic Mr Brightside walk-on could be stolen if he's not in the 2026 Premier League

Nathan Aspinall is worried he could lose his iconic walk-on song, Mr Brightside by The Killers, if he fails to receive a Premier League invitation this year. The Englishman, currently ranked world number 15, has used the track for years, but fears the PDC may hand it to another player if he misses out on the line-up.

Aspinall enjoyed a solid season with three European Tour titles and a Players Championship Finals runner-up finish. Even so, he does not believe it is enough to secure a place in the prestigious weekly roadshow.

“I hope they wouldn’t do it to me,” he says in quotes collected by The Sun. “But I have had a bit of a concern at the moment, obviously because I’ve fallen down the rankings and I might not potentially be in the Premier League this year.”

Aspinall feels Mr Brightside is part of the Premier League’s identity. “Mr. Brightside makes the Premier League, in my opinion. Everyone loves it. Are they going to give it to someone else for the Premier League? Can they do that? I don’t know.”

The Stockport thrower says the prospect would hit hard. “I’d be very disappointed if they did. That’s the only thing that I’ve thought about recently that could potentially happen.”

Aspinall accepts that his place isn’t guaranteed. “They can do what they want, can’t they? Let’s be honest. They probably wouldn’t care if I wasn’t in the Premier League, if you see what I mean.”

He also wonders whether popularity will matter this year. “Say Gian van Veen, he’s got some weird Dutch song. Would they want him to walk out to that in England because everyone loves Mr. Brightside? I don’t know. That’s something I thought that might happen.”

The Englishman says he hasn’t made a strong enough case on results alone. “Have I done enough to be involved? No. No way near. It’s already sold out anyway, so that line, ‘Nathan puts bums on seats’ – I’m probably putting myself out of a job here – but I’m like, they’ve already sold out anyway.

“I know a lot of people want me in the Premier League. Of course I want to be in it, but I think if you look at the players at the moment, am I in that top eight? No. But I’m not far off, though. I’ll probably say as it stands now I reckon I’m about tenth.”

Recent speculation suggested Aspinall might change his walk-on after briefly using the intro of Eminem’s Lose Yourself, but he insists that was never on the table.

“I’ve never once said I’m changing it. It’s going to be here for as long as I play darts,” he said.