“You need to have a personality as well as being at the top of your game” - Stephen Bunting seeks perfect balance on stage

The rise of Stephen Bunting at major tournaments has become a fixed ritual. As soon as the first notes of Titanium echo through the arena, Alexandra Palace rises to its feet.

The world number four is already on stage by then, conducting the crowd and letting himself be carried by a moment that has taken on almost religious proportions in modern darts. Bunting clearly enjoys the attention, but makes one thing immediately clear: it’s not just about the show for him.

“There’s a lot of people playing darts who haven’t got no character,” Bunting says matter-of-factly to The Guardian. “They’re boring to watch. And that’s probably why they’ll never be in the Premier League. You need to have a personality as well as being at the top of your game. You need to balance both.”

Bunting has found that balance in recent years. Long seen as a solid pro on the fringes of the second tier, he has since established himself as a mainstay at the top of the sport. The Bullet is a tournament winner, a fans’ favourite, and one of the faces of modern darts. Strikingly, those two developments are inextricably linked.

Bunting grew up in St Helens and knew early what he wanted. Darts wasn’t a casual sideline but a dream. “I always wanted to be a dart player,” he says. “Sixth form, we used to wag off school and go down to the pub, a game of snooker, a game of darts and a few pints. But I also want to be remembered as one of the nice guys. For being a bit stupid and having a laugh.”

That attitude is still visible today. The mass singalong during his walk-on didn’t come from a marketing plan or carefully built strategy. The choice for Titanium even had a simple origin. “My son thought it was a great track,” Bunting explains. “That was basically the only reason.”

The fact that this song in particular grew into a stadium anthem surprised him as much as anyone. “I never really thought too much about it,” he says. “But the song is brilliant, and the lyrics – ‘bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away’ – all relate. When I get on stage and the fans are all singing it back, you feel like you’re orchestrating something special. And then it gives you the power to go and produce performances.”

In a sport where showmanship and eccentric characters are never far away, Bunting stresses that his persona isn’t an act. “It’s 100% me,” he says. “I don’t hide behind fakeness. My dad taught me that from an early age. No matter how much money you’ve got in your bank, you’re still the same person.”

That self-image didn’t come easily. After his BDO world title in 2014, a breakthrough seemed logical, but in the years that followed Bunting lost his way. Defeats began to gnaw, doubts piled up. “Then you start losing, you start doubting," he admits. "It took a few years to rebuild myself.”

Bunting sought help and worked with hypnotherapist Chris O’Connor to become mentally stronger. “He taught me, no matter how hard things were, to try to take my mind away from darts. Don’t look at negatives, look for positives. That helped alleviate the demons.”

Alongside mental coaching, Bunting also tinkered with his setup. For years he threw with extremely light darts, which became even lighter through wear. "If I didn’t change my darts, soon I was going to be throwing with bookie pens,” he jokes.

The switch to heavier darts brought stability. “Moving up six grams gives me so much more control of the dart. It’s paid dividends,” he stated.

The results followed. In 2024 he won his first major PDC title at the Masters. A year later came his Premier League Darts debut. At the same time, his popularity grew off the oche via social media, livestreams, and fan sessions. “We do exhibitions, and a lot of the other players like to lock themselves away in a private room,” Bunting says. “They don’t really see the fans, unless it’s a meet-and-greet. Whereas I like to be the centre of attention, easily accessible. And listen, these fans are paying our wages.”

Yet the biggest prize remains out of reach. Bunting has never reached a PDC World Darts Championship final and his Premier League campaign disappointed. In other majors, too, a real breakthrough has yet to come. He still sees plenty of positives.

“I feel good,” he says. “I recently beat Luke Littler at an exhibition. Hundred point three average. Hitting lots of 180s, and my big finishing seems to be back.”