"It’s been talked about through some of the sponsors" - Stephen Bunting reveals Royal Rumble style darts event could be closer than ever

Stephen Bunting is keeping his spirits up despite a difficult 2025 Premier League Darts campaign so far. The darter from St. Helens suffered a tough 6-0 defeat against Luke Littler on Thursday night, despite an average of 102.15, for an eighth consecutive loss. This is the highest average ever in the Premier League for a player who failed to win a single leg.

After eight days of play, the former Masters champion is rooted to the bottom of the league table, but he remains optimistic and owes much of that to his mental coaching. Bunting strongly believes in the importance of mental resilience and is working with a hypnotherapist and sports psychologist to improve his mindset.

In his own podcast, The Bunting Effect, he explained: “It’s so important as well you look outside the box. It’s not just all about darts. It could be something that happens in your life that affects your performances. I have improved mentally and physically from seeking help.”

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Despite his disappointing performance in the Premier League, Bunting has enjoyed success on other stages this season. The current world number six made it to the semifinals of the PDC World Darts Championship and won his first World Series of Darts title earlier this year.

Another source of motivation is his family. "The biggest reason for the recent success is I had a really good Worlds, which gave me a lot of confidence. Winning the Masters last year was a massive plus for me. Moving from the 12-gram darts to the 18-grams has really helped," Bunting comments. “Spending a lot of family time and having a new baby, I have a lot to play for. Just the practice off the oche and making sure I’m the best version of myself has really helped.”

Bunting in action

In addition to his own accomplishments, Bunting is also thinking about new concepts within the darts world. He sees great potential in Paul Nicholson's idea of a WWE Royal Rumble-style darts event, in which a surprise entrant replaces a losing player each time in a winner stays on format. "I think it would definitely work, and it will sell tickets. It’s been talked about through some of the sponsors," he assesses. “That would be something Paddy Power would cling on to. The knockout feature, people coming in from the side – it would be great, and I would love to be a part of it. I like watching wrestling with my lad – Cody Rhodes is his favourite.”

Outside of darts, Bunting has another dream: he would love to participate in the program I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! “I would do I’m a Celeb if I was asked. It would be an experience of a lifetime," Bunting concludes. “I know Phil Taylor was given the opportunity to do it. In the future, once darts is done, it’s definitely a good thing to do and I would love it.” 

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