"I'd love to tell you that I've had a great story about headbutting 10 people": Luke Humphries uncovers mystery surrounding scar on forehead

Luke Humphries joked that his story of his scar on his forehead isn't some grand tale of fighting 10 guys off and instead was perhaps an allergic reaction to some makeup on his head used on the TV show Bullseye.

Humphries spoke afterwards to the media after beating Dave Chisnall at the World Grand Prix in a tie that wasn't at the free flowing best from either, but Humphries managed to get over the line and get through the short format before it now extends at the World Grand Prix.

"It's just lucky that I ended up winning the game, because if you lose them games, you walk off so disappointed. And obviously winning it, it's a great feeling, overshadowed by the fact I didn't play well," said Humphries to the media including DartsNews.com.

"But I can't sit here and be too disappointed because I've won. But I'm just a little bit disappointed with the way I played tonight. It was very, very shaky, a little bit up and down. There was a couple of good legs in there, a couple of really bad legs. But, you know, that's daft, isn't it? And at the end of the day, what anyone cares about as a player is winning, and I did. So, yeah, I'm happy."

Humphries also had issues with the crowd during points of his win and said that being a football fan, it is all about give and take and if you give it, you have to learn to take it as he celebrated towards a certain section after.

"I'm not going to make it too much about them, because it's about me winning and Gary winning. But yeah, people in the crowd, sometimes they have a massive influence. You try and ignore them for so long, and I did ignore them.

"They wasn't affecting me when I was playing. But obviously when I won, you kind of want to give it back to them. Because it's just like football.

"If you give it, you've got to take it. And I think they didn't like taking it in the end. But, you know, if you're going to give it, you've got to take it.

"And I'm one of them people as well. If I give it, then I'll take it as well. Yeah, I was quite happy to give them a little bit in the end, to be fair. But, you know, that's just to be a banter as a whole. It didn't really... It wasn't the reason why I didn't play very good. Nothing to do with them. It was more my own problem. So, yeah, I just got to buck my ideas up and start playing a lot better than that."

Humphries then touched upon the scab on his forehead which he said wasn't what it could've been in terms of being some grand story and was a mishap.

"I really wanted to bring up some amazing stories like I fought five guys and they came off worse than me. Unfortunately, I don't have that great story.

"I did Bullseye filming on Tuesday. Woke up Wednesday with a massive rash on the side of my head. And it just got worse and worse. And then it scabbed over. And, you know, for me, the only thing I could think of is, you know, when you do TV shows, they put makeup on you and all these type of things, all these creams. I got an allergic reaction to it.

"Really, unfortunately, there is no great story to tell you. That is what I think it is, but I don't know. So I haven't seen a doctor or anything like that. But yeah, it just looks like I've had an allergic reaction to the stuff they've got on my head and face and stuff. But I'm fully well. I've just got that on my head.

"So I'd love to tell you that I've had a great story about headbutting 10 people. But unfortunately, I haven't."

It is a tournament that holds special memories for Humphries and after breaking his major hoodoo as of late, he is looking to push on. "The last three years, I mean, the first year I ever played in it. Oh, the first year I made the final, sorry, when I won it. I didn't really play that great. The first game, second game, third game. First, second game weren't great.

"I think I remember coming back from 2-0 down to Peter Wright, which was a good game. And then played my best in the final. And then, you know, for me, the next two years, I actually played a lot more consistent. So I think the thing you can take from this tournament is don't worry about one performance because the next one could be really good or it could be crap. But if you win, that's what it really matters.

"So for me, it's like, you know, the getting in wasn't as good as it usually is, but I won and it puts me in the hat for Thursday. Of course, not really pleased. You know what I'm like. I'm always an advocate for being like really solid in performances all the time. But I got to that sort of stage in my career now where it's like on the rankings, you know, 100 averages do not keep you at the top of the world in the rankings. So I'm just happy I won.

"And in my brain, I think you aren't going to perform that again this week. So if I don't, then I've got a good chance of making the final again. But it's up to me to improve on that."

But now Littler goes out, it ramps up the pressure which he admits he isn't a fan of. "Yeah, to be honest, I hate it when he loses because it almost puts the pressure on myself. Then everyone's like, right, this is yours to win and all this type of stuff. And I hate it. I hate it when he loses because I want to play him in finals.

"I want to beat him in finals. I want to lose, you know, I don't want to lose to him in finals. But I like playing in the finals because it gets me up for it. And then they call me stupid. But yeah, I just obviously when he loses, I'm not like jumping for joy. I'm obviously disappointed that he's not here.

"But yeah, it puts all the pressure on myself. And maybe sometimes it don't help me. So I'd rather him still be in the tournament and be the favourite. And then I can just backdoor it to the final and maybe even lose in the semi."

But now he feels he deserves another major after a lot of near misses in recent months losing to Luke Littler in finals with huge averages and will look to make that happen this week.

"Of course. It's a special place for me. It's like I said in one of my interviews earlier, you know, three years ago, this is where my proper darting journey began, really. You know, I've achieved so much since that moment when I beat Gezzy in that final. I'd just love to full circle it and, you know, win another one, because I feel like as much as you only deserve what you put out in life.

"But I feel like I deserve a major. It's been like six or seven I've lost in the final. A couple of close ones. Played really good in the Premier League final, played really good. I mean, Premier League final and the World Masters final, I played 105 averages and lost. And, you know, they are tough to take because you feel like if you just play anybody else in the world, they're probably not going to beat you.

"But when you're playing a phenom like Luke, you can beat him. So I feel like I deserve one. But, you know, sometimes you don't always get what you deserve in life. So it's up to me to win another four games and, you know, perform a lot better than that. Because if I perform that again, I'll be very lucky to make it to the quarter semis, you know. So, you know, it's important now that I go back to the practise for tomorrow, work hard and put whatever I did tonight right."